(July 27, 2023 – Chicago) Today, Thomas More Society attorneys filed a federal lawsuit against Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, seeking to stop him from enforcing Illinois Senate Bill 1909, a measure drafted by Raoul’s office that declares the pro-life speech of the state’s life pregnancy help ministries to be a “deceptive business practice.” Thomas More Society is representing NIFLA, a national pregnancy help center network, along with several Illinois pregnancy help centers and pro-life organizations.
“This
law is a blatant attempt to chill and silence pro-life speech under the guise
of ‘consumer protection,’” explained Peter Breen, Thomas More Society
Executive Vice President and Head of Litigation, and a former Illinois State
Legislator. “Pregnancy help ministries provide real options and assistance to
women and families in need, but instead of the praise they deserve,
pro-abortion politicians are targeting these ministries with $50,000 fines and
injunctions solely because of their pro-life viewpoint.”
The
lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Illinois, Western Division, seeks a temporary
restraining order, preliminary injunction, and permanent injunction against SB
1909. If temporary and preliminary injunctions are granted, they would prevent
the law from being enforced while the case makes its way through the court
system.
“The
state government has completely overstepped the bounds of any logical and
relevant authority by inserting insane partisan politics into their governing
bodies and attempting to trample the First Amendment rights of those with whom
they disagree,” said Thomas Glessner, President of NIFLA. “There is no basis
for their blatant attacks on pregnancy centers, who provide all of their
services for free for women and their families throughout Illinois. They do so
out of their deeply held beliefs of caring for one another and exhibiting human
decency and compassion for those in need, something the leaders of Illinois are
completely clueless about. This attempt to deny mothers their constitutional
right to choose life is disgraceful and should be an embarrassment to the
people of Illinois.”
Under
this new revision to the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act,
the state seeks to curtail the speech of pro-life organizations by illegally
targeting their efforts to “dissuade pregnant [women] from considering abortion
care.” It also faults pro-life organizations for “pay[ing] for advertising…
that is intended to attract consumers to their organizations and away from
medical providers that offer” abortions, accusing the pro-life organizations of
providing misleading information “overstating the risks associated with
abortion.” Yet, Breen asserts, and as the filing states, that all of the
abortion-related information provided by these pro-life centers and
organizations is backed by scientific research.
“In
addition to being unconstitutional and extremely prejudicial,” added Breen,
“state officials have not had cause to take legal action against pregnancy help
centers, using the tools of the law that were already available.”This lawsuit,
Breen stated, has been filed to protect the right of pro-life pregnancy help
centers and sidewalk counselors across Illinois to continue their meaningful
and important work of providing compassionate and competent advice, care, and
support to thousands of women across Illinois facing unplanned pregnancies.
Breen
observed that the instigation of the new law, backed by Raoul, is completely
without rationale or provocation. The Illinois Attorney General’s Office has
not been able to provide any hard evidence that pregnancy help centers engage
in so-called “deceptive practices.” According to Freedom of Information Act
documents obtained from Raoul’s office, Breen shared that “the Attorney General
has received zero complaints from members of the public against an Illinois
Pregnancy Help Center for alleged violations of the Deceptive Business
Practices Act.”
Breen
also testified before the Illinois House Health Care Availability &
Accessibility Committee, which voted to advance SB 1909, despite receiving more
than 17,000 witness slips from voters opposing the bill and only a little over
3,000 supporting it.
Read
the Complaint, seeking Temporary Restraining Order and Permanent Injunction from
the State of Illinois’ just enacted Senate Bill 1909, filed on July 27, 2023,
in the United States District Court – Northern District of Illinois
Western Division, by Thomas More Society attorneys on behalf of the National
Institute of Family and Life Advocates, Women’s Pregnancy Services, Rockford
Family Initiative, Relevant Pregnancy Options Center, and Pro-Life Action
League, in NIFLA, et al. v. Kwame Raoul here.
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