Illinois Catholic Bishop Thomas Paprocki lamented the passage of a radical pro-abortion law last week, saying it will help “evil thrive” across the state.
Paprocki, who leads the Diocese of Springfield, responded after Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a law Friday that repeals the state parental notification law for abortions. Starting in June, abortion facilities no longer will be required to notify parents before their underage daughter has an abortion.
In a statement, Paprocki said the abuse of born and unborn children will increase under the new law.
“… the government has provided evil the cover of darkness in which it thrives,” he said. “The devil desires darkness and despises the light. It is striking how much this legislation does to provide cover, secrecy, and darkness over evil deeds.”
Paprocki said the law basically gives a “free pass” to sex traffickers by making it easier for them to abuse young girls and cover up their crimes.
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The governor and lawmakers who supported the repeal also stripped away parents’ God-given authority and responsibility to care for their children, the bishop continued.
“This is a right and responsibility that God grants, and which no government can take away,” he said. “In attempting to do so, this legislation acts directly against God’s will, which is the very definition of evil.”
He pointed out how the law also contradicts an essential purpose of the government: to protect children from danger. Though Illinois prohibits children from using tanning beds, buying cigarettes or alcohol and requires parents’ permission for basically every medical procedure, it now makes an exception for abortion, Paprocki continued.
Unborn children will be in greater danger, too, he said, calling it “most grievous” that the “government has promoted and facilitated murder” of unborn babies.
Others are speaking out, too, including U.S. Congresswoman Mary Miller, a pro-life Republican from Illinois and a mother of seven.
“There is going to be some girl that is going to bleed to death in her bedroom, and her parents won’t even know what happened to her,” Miller told Breitbart in an interview over the weekend.
She said the law passed because of a “radical” minority of abortion activists, not because people support it. A recent poll that found 72 percent of Illinois voters support the parental notification law, including many who identified as pro-choice.
Miller said abortion activists “don’t care about the young girls, and they don’t care about the parents. These girls — these are crisis pregnancies. They are probably motivated by fear. They’re getting misinformation and bad counsel.”
She urged women and girls to think carefully before going through with an abortion because Satan uses fear to manipulate.
“Fear is a powerful motivator — fear is from Satan and it motivates people to do the wrong thing,” Miller said. “And they need to think long term also, and seek out people that are not going to be making money off of them, or going to be benefiting from them destroying their baby.”
About 1,000 underage girls have abortions in Illinois every year, according to a report the ACLU of Illinois.
However, pro-life leaders fear that number will increase now that the parental notification law is gone. Research shows that parental involvement laws protect young girls and save unborn babies from abortions.
Currently, 36 states currently require parental involvement (consent or notification) before a minor has an abortion. A 2011 Gallup poll found 71 percent of Americans favor laws requiring parents’ involvement in a minor’s abortion decision.
ACTION ALERT: Contact Gov. J.B. Pritzker with your complaints about his signing the bill.
