With the spring session winding down, Rep. Margo McDermed (R-Mokena) and her GOP peers held an impromptu press conference May 29 rejecting taxpayer-subsidized abortions.
Lawmakers are confronting HB40, a bill passed last year that allows for taxpayer-subsidized abortion. In 2017, the bill was not part of the annual fiscal plan. But it is now, and it has left lawmakers with the question of whether to vote to fund up to 30,000 elective abortions annually in Illinois.
Rep. Peter Breen (R-Lombard), who was at the press conference, said it is not just GOP lawmakers who loathe the idea. He cited a recent survey that reports that 89 percent of Republicans, 56 percent of Independents and 43 percent of Democrats oppose taxpayer-funded abortions.
But that has not stopped Illinois from becoming infamous for elective abortions, according to Breen, who said that 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 called for the budget to be divided into silos so that those who morally object to abortion are not forced to vote on a budget that would fund the procedure.
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