Eighteen Illinois women's health organizations have sued Gov. Bruce Rauner over a law requiring pregnancy centers to tell patients about the benefits of abortion despite conscience-based objections. The measure requiring the dispensing of abortion information changed a 1977 law allowing health care professionals to refuse services they consider morally objectionable. The law took effect Jan. 1.
Thomas Olp, an attorney for the Thomas More Society, says it violates the First Amendment's speech protection. He says there's no reason to require health centers to impart the information, and that information about abortion is readily available.
The lawsuit claims the law's only intent is to interfere with alerting women that abortion is not the only solution to a problem pregnancy.
