After pushing for law targeting ‘crisis pregnancy centers,’ attorney general backs off legal fight
By HANNAH MEISEL
Capitol News Illinois
hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com
A little over six months after pushing Democrats in the General Assembly to pass a law targeted at limited services pregnancy centers, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has agreed in a legal filing to stop the state’s enforcement of it.
Raoul’s decision to permanently halt enforcement of the law came in an agreed order that effectively ends a lawsuit filed by anti-abortion groups within an hour of Gov. JB Pritzker signing the bill into law this summer. The order still needs approval from a federal judge in Rockford who previously called the law “both stupid and very likely unconstitutional” when granting a preliminary injunction against the law a week after it was signed.
The anti-abortion groups behind the lawsuit quickly claimed victory this week.
“This law is just one of a number of illegal new laws enacted across the country that restrict pro-life speech,” Thomas More Society executive vice president and head of litigation Peter Breen said in a statement. “We hope this permanent injunction, with full attorney’s fees, serves as a warning to other states that would seek to follow Illinois and try to silence pro-life viewpoints.”
The law, passed during the final days of the General Assembly’s spring legislative session, expanded Illinois’ longstanding Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act to specifically include limited services pregnancy centers, often referred to as “crisis pregnancy centers.” Those facilities advertise services like ultrasounds and material help such as baby formula, diapers and parenting classes, but also aim to deter women from having abortions.
Abortion rights advocates claim CPCs often employ aggressive tactics to confuse those seeking abortion care and ultimately talk them out of terminating their pregnancies by means including directing them to their facilities instead of the actual clinics the abortion-seekers were hoping to find. Under the law, a judge or jury could award up to $50,000 in civil penalties for each act of fraud or deception proven in court.
Read more: ‘Crisis pregnancy centers’ could face lawsuits under Illinois’ expanded consumer fraud act
Judge Iain Johnston in the Northern District of Illinois sided with CPCs in early August, temporarily blocking the law on First Amendment grounds.
The day the bill was signed in late July, Raoul told reporters he was “confident” the law would be upheld in court, saying crisis pregnancy centers are “not free to lie to people and to use deceptive practices.”
Raoul has often recounted his visit to an abortion clinic where his driver was stopped by CPC volunteers who carried clipboards and attempted to divert him from going into the facility, instead saying they needed to check him in first.
“There’s nothing in the First Amendment that protects that type of action,” he said in July.
Though he and his surrogates had insisted this spring that the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act needed an expansion to explicitly name CPCs in the same way the law names other businesses like car dealers, Raoul on Monday indicated he’d use the existing law to sue CPCs if needed.
He said the agreed order “in no way affects my ongoing work protecting women’s rights to access the full range of reproductive health services.”
At a news conference Tuesday, Pritzker said he agreed that the existing state law “will do what’s necessary to keep organizations like the crisis pregnancy centers from providing misinformation, disinformation and allow people to sue under that act.”
But House sponsor Terra Costa Howard said Raoul’s decision to “back off” from the legal fight over the law is a “gut punch” to women in Illinois and beyond, especially after Monday’s ruling from the Texas Supreme Court that denied a woman the opportunity to end her medically unviable pregnancy in order to “preserve her own health and fertility.”
“As the House sponsor of this bill, I am heartbroken by the decision to back down on our promise to Illinois women that these deceptive centers and their staffs will face legal consequences if they tell lies or conceal important health information from the patients who walk through their doors,” Costa Howard said in a statement Tuesday. “This settlement undoes so much hard work by so many advocates, organizations, and legislators, who stood together against the pressure tactics of these forced birth extremists.”
Costa Howard defeated the Thomas More Society’s Breen, a former suburban GOP lawmaker, in both 2018 and 2020, in races that centered largely on abortion rights.
Read more: ‘Crisis pregnancy centers’ could face legal action under measure poised for Pritzker’s signature
Judge Johnston is also overseeing a related challenge to a 2016 law stipulating that, if requested by a patient, providers who don’t perform abortions must refer, transfer to, or give patients written information about providers who do. The law is a change to Illinois’ 1970s-era Health Care Right of Conscience Act – a statute passed in the wake of the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision – aimed at shielding health care providers from liability if they have religious objections to abortion.
Read more: 7 years after passage, Illinois’ first in string of recent abortion protections gets day in court
Johnston heard a bench trial on the law in September, just weeks after issuing his preliminary injunction in the CPC fraud law case. The two intersect in myriad ways, and the practices of CPCs were discussed at length in the September trial. But nearly three months later, Johnston is still waiting on final post-trial motions and weighing arguments from both sides.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of print and broadcast outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.
Local News
Memorial service honors longtime Independence art teacher
Spread the loveBy Kelly White Palos School District 128 honored the life of one of its beloved educators with a Memorial Service. The service at Independence Jr. High School, 6610 W. Highland Dr., Palos Heights, May 24 honored the legacy of longtime art teacher, Mike Maholland, of Hickory Hills, who passed away on February 18.…
Oak Lawn Chamber to sponsor Restaurant Week
Spread the loveBy Bob Bong More than a dozen restaurants have signed up to take part in the Oak Lawn Chamber of Commerce’s inaugural Restaurant Week in June. “This is a new endeavor for us,” said Anne Fritz, chamber executive director. “This will be our unofficial kick off to summer.” Fritz said the chamber’s marketing…
One-in-a-million blue-eyed cicada found in Orland Park
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Kelly Simkins is an aspiring musician and someday she just might hit the stage and perform a Frank Sinatra song. Meanwhile, the Crestwood resident is partnering with another “Ol Blue Eyes” for a little fame. So, start spreading the news… Simkins, who owns Merlin’s Rockin’ Pet Show, was in Orland…
Summit looks to replace aging pedestrian bridge
Spread the loveBy Carol McGowan Generations of Summit residents have used the 74th Avenue pedestrian bridge and village officials are now getting ready to replace the aging structure. Village Engineer Tim Klass from Novotny Engineering recently discussed replacing the bridge with a crowd of about 75 people at a community meeting on May 15 at…
Flagg Creek golfers will pay more for greens fees
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch It will cost more to play at Flagg Creek Golf Course in Countryside this summer. The Pleasant Dale Park District, by a 4-1 vote, recently approved a rate increase that had been unanimously approved by the Countryside City Council in April. The park district and city are co-owners of Flagg…
McCook fire hydrants to be sandblasted and painted
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch Decades of paint – some three-quarters of an inch thick – will be sandblasted off most of the fire hydrants in McCook this summer. “For 30, 40 years we’ve been painting over them. They’ve never been sandblasted. It’s well overdue,” Mayor Terrance Carr said during the most recent board meeting.…
Woman sentenced in 2003 murders of newborn twins
Spread the loveFrom staff reports A 44-year-old woman, charged in the 2003 deaths of her newborn twins following an extensive cold case investigation by Cook County Sheriff’s Police, has been convicted of murder. On May 8, Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced that Antoinette Briley pled guilty to murder at the Bridgeview Courthouse and…
McCook approves ‘preventive’ rodent control program
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch The McCook Village Board earlier this month approved what Mayor Terrance Carr calls “preventive maintenance.” The board on May 6 unanimously approved paying Rose Pest Solutions $12,000 for a 10-week rodent control program throughout the village. It’s not that the McCook now has a rat problem, Carr said. It’s that…
Summit, property owners discuss apartment inspections
Spread the loveBy Carol McGowan Nearly 75 people attended a community meeting last Wednesday evening in the multi-purpose room of Graves School to learn about changes coming to the village. Three topics highlighted the meeting. Rental property inspections, lead line replacement, and replacing the 74th Avenue pedestrian bridge. Mayor Sergio Rodriguez tackled the controversial rental…
Tollway to hand out free transponder stickers in Justice
Spread the loveBy Carol McGowan Earlier this year, the Illinois Tollway began phasing out the plastic I-Pass transponder and introduced a sticker tag that goes on your vehicle’s windshield. If you’re still using a transponder, or want to get a new sticker, the Village of Justice is the place to be on Saturday, June 8.…
Neighbors
Willow Springs expected to hire Lyons official as village administrator
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch Ryan Grace, public works director in Lyons for the past four years, is expected to be hired as the Willow Springs village administrator tonight. The village board is expected to approve his hiring during its 7 p.m. meeting. Grace, 38, said he was offered the job by Willow Springs Mayor…
Chicago Ridge librarian knocks off ‘Jeopardy’ champion
Spread the loveBy Kelly White Rhone Talsma grew up watching “Jeopardy!” – the classic game show with a twist where the answers are given first, and the contestants supply the questions. On Wednesday, Talsma knocked off 40-day champion Amy Schneider and won almost $30,000 in the process of becoming the new champion. Locally, the show…
Seven Mt. Carmel wrestlers win titles, help Caravan to Chicago Catholic League crown; Brother Rice takes 3rd
Spread the loveBy Steve Millar Correspondent Ryan Boersma did not get the opportunity to become a four-time Catholic League champion because the COVID-19 pandemic caused to the cancellation of the conference tournament. But winning three Catholic League championships at two schools, and wrapping it up by winning a Lawless Award for the league’s best senior…
Davion Lawrence’s double-double leads Oak Lawn over Richards
Spread the loveBy Steve Millar Correspondent When they were growing up, Johnny McGowan had the upper hand when squaring off on the court against Davion Lawrence. “Me and him go way back,” said McGowan, a senior guard at Oak Lawn. “He used to sleep over at my house when we were younger. We went to…
Funds flow to Back of the Yards
Spread the loveFour groups get grants; millions more available By Tim Hadac Four organizations in Back of the Yards—three businesses and a non-profit—are among 31 awarded more than $14.4 million in small business grants being allocated through the Chicago Recovery Plan. They are: Diaz Group Office Space, 5100 S. Damen, $250,000. El Nuevo Guadalajara, 4350…
Offer reward in grandma’s slaying
Spread the loveWas shot on 71st Street By Tim Hadac A $15,500 reward is offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever shot and killed a 49-year-old grandmother in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood. Tamiko L. Talbert Fleming, of south suburban Dolton, was in the driver’s seat of her vehicle at 71st…
A sweet salesgirl
Spread the love Alessandra Valentina Paredes, a Daisy Scout with Girl Scout Troop 20637 (sponsored by St. Nicholas of Tolentine Parish), shows a sweet smile as she begins her first-ever time selling Girl Scout Cookies. The daughter of West Lawn residents Jose Antonio and Lorena Paredes, Alessandra, age 5, joined the Daisies just four months…
Midway is new for Frontier
Spread the loveLow-fare airline coming in April By Tim Hadac Low-fare passenger airline options are set to increase at Midway International Airport this spring, with the arrival of Frontier Airlines. The expansion of air travel options was announced at a press conference last week at the airport. With 10 new nonstop routes taking off starting…
Rush rips USDA over plight of black farmers
Spread the love‘House is on fire,’ congressman says From staff reports U.S. Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-1st) recently questioned U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack about what Rush called “the dire prognosis of black farmers in the U.S. and the steps USDA is taking to help minority farmers.” “As you well know, our nation’s…