The state of Illinois has already approved a law forcing taxpayers to fund abortions for state employees. Now the governor wants to make sure they’re actually forced to do so, and he says he’s proud to force abortion funding.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed an executive order on Jan. 22 ordering state departments to include abortion and other reproductive procedures in their medical benefits.
The law, Public Act 100-0538, was signed in 2017 and into effect on Jan. 1, 2018.
The order is two-fold. First, state departments are directed submit an evaluation detailing how abortions are currently covered or restricted. Then, these departments will have to make sure they are following the law, which states abortions need to be covered in public health plans.
Now, Pritzker is using this executive order to make sure state departments are complying with the law.
“On the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, I’m proud to declare under my administration, the State of Illinois will be the most progressive state in the nation when it comes to guaranteeing the right to choose for every single woman,” Pritzker said at the signing ceremony.
Illinois has already been funding more abortions with tax dollars and the order will exacerbate that. The Illinois News Network reports state Department of Health and Family Services data for the first half of 2018 shows state taxpayers paid for nearly four times as many abortions as they did in 2017.
Keep up with the latest pro-life news and information on Twitter. Follow @LifeNewsHQ
The law, signed in September by pro-abortion Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, forces taxpayers to pay for elective abortions for Medicaid patients and state employees in Illinois; previously, tax dollars paid for abortions only in very limited circumstances. The law also keeps abortion on demand up to birth legal in Illinois and establishes the Land of Lincoln as a “safe haven” for women seeking abortions.
Illinois Right to Life, which predicted the law would increase abortions, lamented that its prediction is coming true.
“This is a tragic result of HB40 – the bill Governor Rauner signed and that went into effect earlier this year, forcing Illinois taxpayers to pay for abortions for those on Medicaid and state employees, through the full 9 months of pregnancy,” the pro-life group said on social media. “Abortions are expected to increase by the thousands, along with the number of taxpayer dollars used to pay for them.”
It noted that Illinois taxpayers are paying $1,358 on average per abortion, according to the report.
