Posted by
Scott Senffner on Thursday, April 02, 2009 9:54:28 AM
Illinois residents NEED to contact there representatives IMMEDIATELY and tell them to vote NO on the HB 2354. Here is the comment posted at
We Surround Them USA by
Karen Ulrich about what is coming tomorrow, maybe (God Willing) it will be delayed until next year or put out totally. Please contact your Representative (
Click Here) also go to
Stop Illinois FOCA.
My Constitution, my country, my vote. Join
the 912 Project!
NEW INFO: I HAVE BEEN INFORMED THAT IF HB 2354 DOES NOT COME TO A VOTE
BY FRIDAY, IT WILL NOT GO THROUGH BEFORE NEXT YEAR, SO.....IT IS MOST
IMPORTANT TO MAKE YOUR CALLS TOMORROW.
HOUSE BILL 2354 (W/ AMENDMENT #2): TALKING POINTS
SECTION 15: On forbidding the State or any municipality, political
subdivision, or government agency to deny or interfere with a woman’s
right to terminate a pregnancy HB 2354:
Ø creates a fundamental right to abortion which entails a great range
of consequences, some unknown, except that all provisions of the Act
are to be “liberally construed”;
Ø prevents any state regulation of abortion, including those upheld by
the U.S. Supreme Court in Casey v. Planned Parenthood (1992), including
waiting periods, informed consent and parental notification.
Ø Thirty years ago, we were told abortion would be a rare but necessary
tragedy; today, we are being told abortion is a human right and those
who attempt to regulate it in any manner or who will not provide it
should be legally punished.
SECTION 35: On rights of conscience, HB 2354:
Ø Significantly weakens the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience
Act, which ensures healthcare professionals do not have to obtain,
receive, accept, deliver, pay for, or arrange for medical care that is
contrary to their conscience;
Ø requires health care professionals to provide prior notice to patients of their moral and religious beliefs;
Ø coerces health care professionals to materially cooperate in the
procedures or services they morally object to by requiring they or
someone in their employ provide “timely and accurate information and
referral”;
Ø mandates every healthcare facility in the state, including Catholic
hospitals, to employ someone to provide “timely and accurate
information and referral” for abortion.
* The proponents equate this requirement with the policy of allowing
Catholic hospitals to refer the victims of rape to Emergency
Contraception providers, but the comparison is false: there is a moral
distinction between the victim of a horrendous crime and other patients
seeking abortion.
SECTION 15: On Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act:
Ø Illinois’ Parental Notice of Abortion Act has been tied up in the
courts for over ten years, despite the Illinois Supreme Court issuing
rules for the judicial bypass in October 2006;
Ø The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to make a new ruling on
the statute, possibly lifting the injunction, within weeks;
(OVER)
Ø The enactment of HB 2354 would invalidate Illinois’ parental
notification statute by prohibiting the state from any “interference”
with the “right” to abortion and again
using the language “Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or any other law to the contrary.”
Ø As of the end of 2008, 35 states, and every Midwestern state other
than Illinois, have implemented a parental consent or notification of
abortion law.
SECTION 20: On public funding of abortion, HB 2354:
Ø requires state Medicaid assistance to cover the costs of abortion in all instances.
Ø In fiscal year 1977/78, before Illinois had any restrictions on state
Medicaid funding of abortion, 12,738 abortions were paid for with
public money.
Ø In fiscal year 1981/82, after the federal Hyde amendment and Illinois
law restricting government funding of abortion were upheld in court,
the number of abortions paid for with public money dropped to 22.
Ø In 1990 a Cook County Circuit Court judge expanded the cases in which
Medicaid funding could be used for abortion, and since then public
money has been used to fund several hundred abortions every year.
Ø If House Bill 2354 were enacted, any regulation of Medicaid funding
of abortion would be invalidated, and Illinois would likely return to
funding thousands of abortions every year.
Ø House Bill 2354’s requirement that any “State medical assistance”
provide financial assistance for reproductive healthcare may be
interpreted to require state health insurance to cover abortion.
SECTION 30: On comprehensive sex education, HB 2354:
Ø mandates comprehensive sex education in grades K-12 by amending the
statutorily defined Comprehensive Health Education Program (which is
mandated K-12);
Ø wrests local control from parents and local school boards on the best approaches to sex education in their communities.
CONCLUSION
In 2007, the most recent year the Illinois Department of Public Health
has complied statistics, there were 45,298 abortions in Illinois. In
Illinois, the sad fact is that anyone can procure an abortion for any
reason at any stage of pregnancy. Many people of good will have had to
accept the fact our laws do not protect unborn human life. Still, it’s
not enough. Now, we are told there should never be regulation of the
taking of those lives nor conscientious objection among health-care
workers allowed.
House Bill 2354 is a radical effort to codify a fundamental right to
abortion and ensure all conscientious objections are swept aside,
politically and in the health care profession.
Please vote NO.