SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois General Assembly continues to find new ways to further enshrine abortion into law. Within the last month, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed one bill requiring insurance companies to provide full coverage for abortions and another making abortions a protected human rights issue.

The actions came just ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago where the party emphasized its commitment to “reproductive rights” and a mobile Planned Parenthood unit performed vasectomies and provided abortion services nearby.

The Birth Equity Act requires both private and Medicaid insurance in the state to cover the cost of abortion procedures without requiring any copays or deductibles. The coverage also includes medication abortions. Meanwhile, House Bill 4867 (HB 4867) amended the state’s Human Rights Act to “prohibit discrimination based on reproductive health decisions,” according to a media release from the governor’s office.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, pro-choice Illinois lawmakers have promoted abortion access in the state which saw nearly 91,000 abortions reported in the calendar year 2023 – a 60 percent increase over 2022.

“Forcing people or organizations to violate their religious beliefs is unconstitutional and has no place in our society,” said Greg Baylor, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) senior counsel. “We are disappointed to see this dangerous legislation signed into law, as it plainly violates the First Amendment freedoms of pro-life employers in Illinois.”

Kevin Carrothers is executive director of the state’s Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services (BCHFS) based in Carmi, Ill., which includes Angels’ Cove Residential Maternity Home and GraceHaven Pregnancy Resource Clinic, both in Mt. Vernon, Ill. Carrothers is also a former practicing attorney. He expressed his disappointment that the bill contained “no religious exemptions.”

“It’s certainly a whole new dynamic,” Carrothers said. “It impacts all of us. It is going to impact churches.”

The bill’s definition of reproductive health decisions includes “healthcare related to the continuation or termination of pregnancy. …” By including “termination of pregnancy” in the definition, employers such as churches, crisis pregnancy care centers and religious schools will be required to hire staff who do not support their pro-life views.

Carrothers pointed out the gray areas of the law within the definition, as there are many disagreements even within the pro-life community. “Whatever that issue is whether its abortion, contraception, or artificial reproductive technologies, there are various points of view on that,” he said.

Other reproductive health decisions cited in HB 4867 also include “birth control, fertility or sterilization care, miscarriage management care, assisted reproductive technologies such as in-vitro fertilization, and prenatal, intranatal, and postnatal care.”

Ultimately, Carrothers said, “They’ve lumped a lot of things together that may or may not be consistent with each other. How you define reproductive health may not be how I define reproductive health.” 

The ADF’s Baylor stated, “Many organizations, including religious and mission-driven entities, maintain their unique character through their personnel choices. These employers advance their missions and communicate their messages by hiring and retaining people who wholeheartedly support and share the organization’s mission and message.” He said, “HB 4867 destroys that essential freedom.”

High profile abortion state

Illinois has become among the highest profile abortion states in the nation. Even last week Planned Parenthood Great Rivers (PPGR), representing the St. Louis region and southern Illinois, sent a mobile abortion unit to Chicago for two days and stationed it within a few blocks of the United Center, where the Democratic National Convention was held. PPGR reported eight medication abortions and nine vasectomies were provided at no cost.

In late June, the neighboring state of Iowa enacted a six-week abortion ban. Illinois’ other neighboring states – Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee – have strict bans against abortion.

Since the ruling known as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — or as it is commonly called, the Dobbs decision — gave individual states the freedom to pass their own laws regarding abortion access, Pritzker and Democrat representatives in the General Assembly have pledged to make the state an abortion safe haven. The latest statistics from the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute bear that out.

Women from at least 16 states traveled to Illinois to undergo an abortion last year. The states with the highest number of women receiving abortions were Missouri – 8,710, Tennessee – 7,120, Indiana – 5,420, Wisconsin – 5,240, Mississippi – 2,060, Arkansas – 2,040, Kentucky – 1,850 and Texas – 1,570.

Illinois State Attorney General Kwame Raoullauded the bill’s signing and praised the state as a “safe haven” for abortion and gender-altering procedures. “I am committed to using the authority of my office to continue to defend against legal challenges to our laws that preserve Illinois as an oasis of reproductive health care,” Raoul said.

Raoul lost a court case last year, when a federal judge blocked a law that would have allowed him to fine pregnancy resource centers up to $50,000 per incident for speech deemed deceptive regarding abortion in a counseling setting.

Barring a legal challenge to HB 4867, Carrothers wondered if the state would be quick to defend the rights of a pro-life organization after the law is enacted. Carrothers said, “We should expect it to be equally applied. Are abortion clinics going to be forced to hire people with pro-life views?”

Pro-choice state legislators have introduced 248 abortion-related actions since 2023. Guttmacher rates Illinois’ abortion policies as “protective” along with 10 other states.

HB 4867, which was signed Aug. 7, goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2025.

The Birth Equity Act, signed on June 29, is an amended version of House Bill 5142. It will also require insurance companies to cover such services as doulas, lactation consultants and midwives.

The act will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2026, except for the Medicare and doula services which are set to begin on Jan. 1, 2025.

Lisa Misner is communications director for the Illinois Baptist State Association. This report was provided by the Illinois Baptist newspaper.