With the help of attorneys at the Liberty Justice Center, we just filed a lawsuit against Governor J. B. Pritzker. This is being done in response to the governor’s strict limits on gatherings and his overreach of executive powers, as these are preventing us from exercising our right to freedom of speech.
After cancelling all scheduled events over the past few months to adhere to the governor’s guidelines, we have found it difficult to carry out our mission. The issues that we work on are deeply personal. Our views are best shared through human-to-human interaction, rather than virtual communication. Additionally, we believe it is most critical that our message of upholding the sacredness of human life be communicated to the public at this time.
Although Illinois is set to move into phase four of reopening by June 26 and allow gatherings of 50 or less, this is still not enough. Our rallies, fundraisers, and educational speaking events garner much more than this 50 person limit.
Ironically, despite these set restrictions, Governor Pritzker has openly endorsed the gatherings of certain advocacy groups and even stood in the midst of protests consisting of hundreds of people. This is clearly a double standard. Our governor cannot simply choose which groups are able to exercise their freedom of speech and which are not.
“Our request is simple: Equal treatment under the law,” said our executive director, Mary Kate Knorr. “We want to be able to get our message out and do our work just like the other advocacy organizations and social causes that the governor has permitted to do so.”
You can read the full press release here.