With the end of the spring legislative session looming and the budget yet to be passed, Rep. Jerry Long (R-Streator) and his GOP peers held an impromptu press conference Tuesday rejecting taxpayer-subsidized abortions.
Since discussing the budget in the last few days, lawmakers have been confronted with HB40, a bill passed last year that allows for taxpayer-subsidized abortions. In 2017, the bill was not part of the annual fiscal plan; but it is now, leaving lawmakers with the question of whether to vote on a budget that funds up to 30,000 elective abortions annually in Illinois.
It is not just GOP lawmakers who loathe the idea.
Present at the press conference, Rep. Peter Breen (R-Lombard) said a recent survey states while 89 percent of Republicans oppose taxpayer-funded abortion, 56 percent of Independents and 43 percent of Democrats also dislike the idea.
But that has not stopped Illinois from becoming infamous for elective abortions, according to Breen, who said in the wake of HB40, the largest abortion provider in Illinois publicly posted its plans to open four new clinics in the state.
Rep. Thomas Morrison (R-Palatine) said the word is getting out.
“People are coming to Illinois to get abortions, and we are not confident that our current rules and procedures would not stop out-of-state residents from coming in and getting a taxpayer-funded abortion,” Morrison said.
GOP lawmakers are calling for the budget to be divided into silos, so those who morally object to abortion are not forced to vote on a budget that would fund the procedure.
“I prefer a simple appropriation on taxpayer-funded abortions on that issue alone and not even part of Medicaid funding,” Ives said.
With only days left before the spring legislative ends, both the budget and funding for HB40 remain unknown.
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