Illinois House Holds Hearing Today on Radical Pro-Abortion FOCA-Type Bill

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Mar 4, 2009   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Illinois House Holds Hearing Today on Radical Pro-Abortion FOCA-Type Bill

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 4
, 2009

Springfield, IL (LifeNews.com) — The pro-life movement has been focused on a potential national bill known as the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) that could put a law in place for unlimited abortions and overturn hundreds of state pro-life laws. The concern is more localized in Illinois, where the state legislature is considering a similar bill.

A FOCA-like bill, House Bill 2354, is slated for a committee hearing today in the Illinois state legislature and pro-life advocates in the Midwestern state are mobilizing against it.

Clarke Forsythe, a respected pro-life attorney with Americans United for Life, talks about the Illinois bill and the effort to enact other FOCA-like bills in other states.

He says HB 2354 would repeal several sensible pro-life laws that limit abortions in Illinois.

"The Illinois FOCA would repeal Illinois physician-only law and all other Illinois limits on abortion by virtue of declaring abortion to be a ‘fundamental right’ and by prohibiting (in Section 15) any ‘interference’ with the fundamental right," he explains.

"The Illinois FOCA would authorize a nurse, in any public school in the state, to do an abortion on a minor girl, at any time of pregnancy, without any parental knowledge," he said. "It would also eliminate the Illinois prohibition on partial-birth abortion and repeal other existing abortion regulations."

"The declaration of abortion as a ‘fundamental right’ would extend from conception to birth and thereby strike down any regulations of abortion throughout pregnancy," Forsythe warns.

Forsythe also says the bill, in section 20, would force Illinois taxpayers to fund abortions by prohibiting “discrimination” against women in any state funding.

"It would also require public funding of abortion from conception to birth by requiring that abortion be treated equally with childbirth," the pro-life attorney adds.

Forsythe says pro-life advocates need to be careful about abortion activists like NARAL and Planned Parenthood introducing FOCA-style bills in their states.

"Like the federal FOCA introduced in the 110th Congress, and state versions that have recently been introduced in other states such as New Mexico," he said.

Related web sites:
Illinois Legislature – https://www.ilga.gov
Americans United for Life – https://www.aul.org

Sign Up for Free Pro-Life News From LifeNews.com

Daily Pro-Life News Report Twice-Weekly Pro-Life
News Report
Receive a free daily email report from LifeNews.com with the latest pro-life news stories on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here. Receive a free twice-weekly email report with the latest pro-life news headlines on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here.