Posted on 08/04/2023 12:27:49 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — A federal judge has blocked a new Illinois law that allows the state to penalize anti-abortion pregnancy centers if they use deception to interfere with patients seeking the procedure.
U.S. District Judge Iain Johnston said Thursday the new law “is painfully and blatantly a violation of the First Amendment.”
The law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker last week bans anti-abortion pregnancy centers, often referred to as “crisis pregnancy centers,” from using “misinformation, deceptive practices, or misrepresentation” to interfere with access to abortion services or emergency contraception. Violators faced fines of up to $50,000.
The bill was championed by Attorney General Kwame Raoul. The law allows the state Office of the Attorney General to investigate complaints against pregnancy centers using questionable tactics and strengthens the attorney general’s authority to prosecute incidences of consumer fraud in such cases.
Kevin Rilott, director of the Rockford Family Initiative and a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said before the law, as many as 100 people attended regular prayer vigils. After the law passed, Rilott said the number of prayer vigil attendees dropped to about 30.
“It’s going to stop us from offering mothers a choice,” Rilott said.
Attorney Peter Breen of the Thomas More Society, a Chicago-based not-for-profit law firm that represented the plaintiffs, said “it was very heartening to know that the judge recognized that our clients are facing a credible threat, that their speech is being chilled, and that’s really important.”
“No matter which side of the abortion issue you’re on, we don’t silence speech,” Breen added. “The judge made that point very clearly today.”
Jennifer Welch, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois, said she was “frustrated” by Johnston’s ruling.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
The Prankster and his boy AG, Queasy, aren’t happy. They should be allowed to trample the Bill of Rights.
Every place the Democrats have power, they attempt criminalize opposing viewpoints.
Liberals just LOVE killing. They absolutely love abortion. Their lust for killing the most innocent among us is one sick addiction.
Tough concept for Leftists (Ukraine War supporters), but MOST CONSERVATIVES want babies to survive our Abortion Mills.
Judge Johnston was appointed by Donald Trump.
And as is always the problem with laws like this, who decides what is deceptive or misinformation? That could just mean everything they don’t like. It’s the same problem as defining hate speech. If I hate what you’re saying, does that make it hate speech?
One problem is that the abortionists try to use euphemisms to hide what they do, so they call themselves things like “Women’s Health Clinics”. Then they get mad when a clinic dealing with women’s actual health uses a similar name. There wouldn’t be any confusion if the sign said “Mince Your Kids Here!”
This idea of “misinformation, deceptive practices, or misrepresentation” is dangerous because most of what they labeled as such during the pandemic and the 2020 election have proven to be true.
Bingo.
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