Illinois Gov Candidate Topinka Backs Rule Targeting Pro-Life Pharmacists 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 31, 2006
Springfield, IL (LifeNews.com) — Showing her pro-abortion colors, Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Judy Baar Topinka said on Monday she supports a much-criticzed executive order implemented by Gov. Rod Blagojevich that forces pro-life pharmacists to dispense drugs that could cause abortions.
Topinka, the state treasurer who is considered the front runner for the Republican nomination, said on Monday that she would keep the rule in place if she defeated Blagojevich this fall.
"I think when they take a job at a pharmacy that they agree to carry out a doctor’s prescription or provide a referral somewhere else," Topinka said, according to an AP report.
She said she believed the drug never works to cause an abortion, even though it can have that effect if taken after the point of conception.
Blagojevich put the rule in place last year and it has led to the firing of several pharmacists who don’t want to dispense the morning after pill because it can sometimes cause an abortion.
Lawsuits have been filed seeking to overturn the executive order.
Topinka’s statement separates her again from the other Republican candidates on pro-life issues, and they have said they would overturn the order if elected.
Rev. Robert Vanden Bosch, executive director of the Concerned Christian Americans, told AP her comments didn’t surprise him.
"I’m certain that we will let our members know where she stands on that," Vanden Bosch said. "I would be surprised if they will be supporting Judy Baar Topinka for governor."
Blagojevich first put forward his rule in April and it became permanent in August.
