Judge Blocks Illinois Law That Could Shut Down Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers

A federal judge has blocked a new Illinois law that could shut down pro-life pregnancy centers.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a pro-abortion law last week that could deny mothers and babies critical, life-saving services by shutting down pregnancy resource centers across the state.

Pro-abortion lawmakers claim Senate Bill 1909 will crack down on “deceptive practices,” but pro-life advocates say the legislation would be used to close charities that help mothers and save unborn babies from the abortion industry’s billion-dollar killing practice.

Late last night, after a hearing in United States District Court, a federal judge granted a motion requested by Thomas More Society attorneys for a preliminary injunction seeking to immediately halt Illinois’ new law attacking life-affirming maternal health care centers. The lawsuit, National Institute of Family Life Advocates et al. v. Raoul, asserts that this law—enacted on July 27, 2023, and amending the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act—was designed to target pregnancy help ministries solely because of their pro-life message.

“Free Speech won today in the Land of Lincoln—pro-life advocates across Illinois can breathe a sigh of relief they won’t be pursued for ‘misinformation’ by Attorney General Kwame Raoul,” stated Peter Breen, Executive Vice President and Head of Litigation for the Thomas More Society. Breen argued the case on behalf of National Institute of Family Life Advocates and other pro-life ministries, including pregnancy care centers in Illinois.

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“Across the nation, pregnancy help ministries are being discriminated against by laws that target their life-affirming work,” said Breen. “The injunction granted today sends a strong, clear message to the country that the First Amendment protects pro-life speech.”

Leading pro-life advocates said Pritzker signed the law because he wants to get rid of pro-life competition against abortion businesses.

“If you’re a poor woman in Illinois facing an untimely pregnancy, J.B. Pritzker and the Democrats want you to have only one option: abortion,” said Eric J. Scheidler, executive director of the Illinois-based Pro-Life Action League. “That’s what SB 1909 is all about.”

Scheidler said he is confident the law will be struck down as unconstitutional.

According to Pritzker’s office, the new law prohibits “so-called ‘crisis pregnancy centers’ from using misinformation, deceptive practices, or misrepresentation in order to interfere with access to abortion services or emergency contraception.”

It gives the Illinois Attorney General’s Office broad authority to determine what “appears” to be deception or “omission of any material fact.” Those deemed to be in violation could be fined up to $50,000. Notably, the law does not apply to abortion facilities.

“Women need access to comprehensive, fact-based healthcare when making critical decision about their own health—not manipulation or misinformation from politically motivated, non-medical actors,” Pritzker said in a statement when he signed the law. “By empowering the attorney general’s office to battle deceptive practices, we’re ensuring Illinoisans can make their own decisions about their bodies using accurate and safe information.”

But Peter Breen, executive vice president and head of litigation at the Thomas More Society, said the law would silence pro-life advocates.

“This is a blatant attempt to chill and silence pro-life speech under the guise of consumer protections,” Breen said. “Pregnancy help ministries provide real options and assistance to women and families in need, but instead of the praise they deserve, pro-abortion-rights politicians are targeting these ministries with $50,000 fines and injunctions solely because of their pro-life viewpoint.”

Pregnancy resource centers are community-based charities that provide information that women likely will not learn at an abortion facility, including abortion risks, fetal development and the support services available to pregnant and parenting mothers.

Their clients overwhelmingly report positive experiences. During the debate in the state legislature, Republican lawmakers pointed out that the attorney general’s office has not received a single complaint about a pro-life pregnancy resource center for as far back as they checked, at least 10 years.

Across the country, pregnancy centers have become a target of attacks, from arson and vandalism, to legislation, to media hit pieces and pro-abortion campaigns.

The real “problem” for Illinois lawmakers is these centers oppose abortion, said Jonathan Alban of the Illinois Family Institute. He said the new law defines “deceptive” “only by the crisis pregnancy center’s unwillingness to perform abortions.”

“These bills stand to be incredibly damaging to the pro-life movement in Illinois and would likely result in the closure of many crisis pregnancy centers,” Alban said earlier this year. “And of course, if these bills pass, it won’t stop at the crisis pregnancy centers—the next bill will prevent churches and pastors from preaching against murder or counseling their parishioners not to seek abortions.”

In an analysis of the bill, Equal Rights Institute lead editor Andrew Kaake said the legislation actually could force pro-lifers to do the very thing lawmakers say they want to stop.

Kaake quoted state Democrat lawmakers who accused pregnancy centers of “concealing data that shows the risk of death associated with childbirth is approximately 14 times higher than the risk of death associated with an abortion.”

However, the risks claim is based on just one flawed study, and the research has been repeatedly debunked, Kaake said.

“The Illinois Legislature is trying to codify the false claims of a single debunked study, while accusing pro-lifers who refuse to say it’s true of fraud,” he wrote. “That’s right; they are hoping to legally force pregnancy centers to tell misinformation to their clients.”

Illinois had some of the most liberal abortion laws in the country. In 2021, the state legislature ignored the public’s wishes and voted to repeal its parental notification law, which required at least one parent to be notified before their underage daughter has an abortion. The state also forces taxpayers to pay for abortions and allows unborn babies to be aborted for basically any reason up to birth.

In 2021, 46,243 abortions were reported, according to statistics from the Illinois health department.

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