Illinois Committee Passes Bill to Overturn Law Saying Unborn Child is a Human Being

State   |   Erin Parfet   |   Feb 9, 2017   |   6:58PM   |   Washington, DC

An Illinois House committee passed legislation this week that would remove provisions from a 1975 Illinois Abortion Law granting the right to life to unborn children from the time of conception, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The bill basically would declare these children unworthy of the right to life even in the event of Roe v. Wade being overturned.

“I think we have the responsibility to recognize that even an unborn child is a human being,” State Rep. Sheri Jesiel told the newspaper. “We have that responsibility as a culture. We have that responsibility as a state. By striking that from the language, we do not do that.”

The provision is found in Illinois House Bill 40, which was scrutinized in a State House Committee in Springfield earlier this week. However, the committee approved it, and it now moves to the full Senate for consideration.

Denying personhood status to unborn children isn’t the only thing wrong with the bill.

“This bill will make each Illinoisan pay for abortions through the full nine months of pregnancy for any reason, even when the unborn child can feel pain and survive outside the womb, for those on Medicaid, and for state employees,” the Illinois Right for Life stated. “Currently, the State Medicaid program already pays for abortions in cases of rape, incest, health and life of the mother. Now, it would also pay for abortions even if the only reason for the abortion is convenience.”

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“Planned Parenthood is behind this one. They’re still reeling from losing the election so badly after spending $30 million to elect pro-abortion candidates. We need to say no to their desperate attempt to force you and me to pay for Illinois abortions,” the Illinois Right to Life continued. “House Bill 40 would undo a decades-old ban on taxpayer funding of abortion, costing us thousands of lives a year. There may be no legal remedy if this bill becomes law.”

The pro-life group said restaurants and tanning salons are inspected more regularly than abortion facilities in Illinois.

“We believe that women deserve world-class medical facilities. No Planned Parenthood in Illinois is licensed nor has received a health and sanitary inspection since 1999,” according to the pro-life group. “In Illinois, tanning salons, Chicago Restaurants, and nursing homes are inspected an average of once every year. Illinois abortion clinics are inspected an average of once every 9 years.”

Beside stripping unborn children of personhood status, the bill seeks to uphold Roe vs. Wade despite any potential future rulings or reversals by the U.S. Supreme Court.

“It is the intention of the General Assembly of the State of Illinois to reasonably regulate abortion in conformance with the legal standards set for in the decisions of the United States Supreme Court of January 22, 1973,” the bill reads, according to the Illinois General Assembly.

The legislation continues: “It is the further intention of the General Assembly to assure and protect the woman’s health and integrity of the woman’s decision whether or not to continue to bear a child, to protect the valid and compelling state interest in the infant and unborn child, and to assure the integrity of marital and familial relations and the rights and interests of persons who participate in such relations…”

State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, a sponsor of the pro-abortion legislation, told the Chicago Tribune, “We really have to protect Illinois women and make an affirmative statement as a General Assembly that says Illinois is going to be a state where abortion is safe and legal no matter what happens with the Supreme Court and Donald Trump.”

Abortion neither assures nor protects a woman’s health, nor does it protect the valid interests of an unborn child or infant.

“Research published since 1989 has consistently revealed that women who abort are at higher risk of subsequent substance abuse, suicide, depression, and mental illnesses. During the time that knowledge of abortion’s risks has grown, [Dr. David] Reardon says, not a single study comparing abortion to the birth of an unintended child has shown that abortion is associated with better mental or physical health,” a Rachel’s Vineyard Ministries report stated.

And for the unborn child, who is would be denied protections under this legislation, the outcome of abortion is death — an outcome which is never health-affirming or otherwise under the umbrella of healthcare.

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