Illinois State Representatives Who Voted for the ERA Get Lowered Pro-Life Ratings

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Mary Kate Knorr

[email protected]

312-422-9300

ILLINOIS RIGHT TO LIFE ACTION RELEASES LOWERED RATINGS FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVES WHO VOTED FOR THE ERA

June 7, 2018 – (CHICAGO) Illinois Right to Life Action (IRLA) – the C4 affiliate of the state’s go-to pro-life organization, Illinois Right to Life (IRL) – announced on Thursday that the pro-life ratings of eleven state representatives (ten Republicans and one Democrat) who voted to add the Equal Rights Amendment (Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 4) to the U.S. Constitution have been significantly downgraded in its widely-distributed voter guide.

Eleven state representatives who claimed pro-life positions voted in favor of the ERA in disregard to pro-life pleas to oppose the amendment – Steven Andersson (R-retiring), Dan Brady (R), Jim Durkin (R), David Harris (R-retiring), Chad Hays (R-retiring), David Olsen (R), Robert Pritchard (R-retiring), Sue Scherer (D), Grant Wehrli (R), David Welter (R) and Christine Winger (R).  Their votes helped make Illinois the 37th state to ratify the ERA.

“These legislators cast a vote in direct opposition to life and did so at the expense of the pro-life voters who put them in office,” said IRLA Legislative Chairman Ralph Rivera. “This is a gravely disheartening development, as the passage of the ERA would put Illinois at even greater risk of further expansion of the state’s historically-lax abortion laws.  Voters deserve to know this.”

State court decisions in both New Mexico and Connecticut have cited their states’ ERAs as justification to expand the statewide availability of abortion.

“History has proven the ERA is not used to guarantee the equality of the sexes under law,” said IRL Executive Director Mary Kate Knorr. “Actually, it’s used to justify the opposite – to increase the availability of abortions, further exposing women to the possibility of infection, even death- all the while orchestrating the deaths of their unborn children.”

To view IRLA’s Voter Guide, go to www.voteprolifeillinois.com.

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Illinois Right to Life Action is the state’s go-to organization for pro-life lobbying and information on defeating pro-abortion bills.  We are highly trusted by pro-life political leaders and citizens alike to be their life affirming voice in the Illinois General Assembly.