About HB 2495 (SB 1594) & HB 2467 (SB 1942) – Now Known As SB 25

UPDATE: On May 26, 2019, this extreme abortion legislation passed out of the Illinois House Appropriations-Human Services Committee as an amendment to SB 25. According to legal analysis of SB 25, the radical legislation maintains the core elements of the so-called Reproductive Health Act (HB 2495) and lays the ground work for the repeal of Illinois Parental Notification (HB 2467).

To learn what’s inside SB 25, click here.

STATUS OF THE BILL:  On May 28, 2019, SB 25 passed out of the Illinois House of Representatives with a 64-50-4 vote. To view the House votes, click here. On May 31, 2019, SB 25 passed out of the Illinois Senate with a 34-20-3 vote. To view the Senate votes, click here.

On June 12, 2019, Governor JB Pritzker signed SB 25 into law. SB 25 goes into effect immediately upon being signed. 

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On February 13, 2019, two abortion bills were filed in the Illinois House of Representatives:

HB 2467: Parent Notice Abortion – Repeal

HB 2495: Reproductive Health Act 

Two equivalent bills have also been filed in the Illinois Senate:

SB 1594: Parent Notice Abortion – Repeal

SB 1942: Reproductive Health Act

This extreme abortion bill package will do the following:

 

• Remove all limits on late-term abortions. Abortion, up to the moment of birth, for any reason or no reason at all, will be allowed.

HB 2495 — the Reproductive Health Act — entirely repeals the Illinois Abortion Law of 1975 and creates a fundamental right to abortion, with no restrictions or limitations, for any reason, through out the full nine months of pregnancy. 

 

• Terminates parental notification requirements in an underage girl’s abortion.

HB 2467 entirely repeals the Illinois Parental Notification Act of 1995. Illinois Parental Notification mandates that no physician can knowingly perform an abortion on a minor child (17 years old and younger) until that physician (or an agent of the physician) has ensured that the child’s parent, grandparent, or legal guardian has received notice 48 hours prior to performing the abortion that his or her child is seeking an abortion.

 

• HB 2495 removes the licensing requirements for the small number of abortion clinics in IL that are licensed. Presently no Planned Parenthood abortion clinic is licensed or inspected in the state of IL.

HB 2495 also removes penalties for performing an abortion on a woman who is not pregnant and lifts the ban on the sale and experimentation of an unborn baby.

 

• Allow non-doctors to perform abortions and allow women to obtain abortion pills (medical abortions) without a physician’s prescription.

HB 2495 allows for non-doctors to do surgical abortions. This includes, but is not limited to, physicians, advanced practice registered nurses, physicians’ assistants, or a person acting under the supervision of one of the above.

 

• Force all insurance plans to cover abortions, with no exception for churches, religious organizations, or pro-life groups.

HB 2495 mandates that all private health insurance plans cover abortions without any restrictions (for any reasons, with no limits as to the number of abortions a year, and throughout the full nine months of pregnancy) or copays or any cost-sharing of any kind.

 

• Expressly declare that the unborn child has no rights.

HB 2495 removes the rights of an unborn child who can survive outside the womb or is on the verge of birth. By removing all rights from the unborn child, legal justification for the crime of murder of an unborn child would appear to be undermined.

 

• Remove conscience protections from pro-life doctors, nurses, and hospitals who refuse to participate in abortions.

HB 2495 repeals the Abortion Performance Refusal Act (745 ILCS 30/1) which protects hospitals, physicians, and nurses for refusing to participate in abortions in any way.

 

• Eliminate the requirement that abortion numbers be reported publicly, so that the additional number of abortions, or the number of abortions done on out-of-state women or underage girls, will not be made public.

How to Take Action

To combat this dangerous legislation, here’s what you can do:

1. Call your state representative and tell them to vote NO on HB 2467 and HB 2495.

Find your representative here.

Find all members of the Illinois House of Representatives here.

2. Call your state senator and tell them to vote NO on SB 1594 and SB 1942.

Find your state senator here.

Find all the members of the Illinois State Senate here.

2. Host a town hall meeting at your church or event space. For more information, call 312.422.9300.

3. Hold a volunteer night and invite your friends or fellow parishioners to make phone calls, urging people to call their legislators about these bills.

4. Place a bulletin insert or flyer in your parish bulletin. For a pre-made bulletin insert, click here.

5. Sign the petition and share it with your friends to sign. You can find it here.

6. Fill out a witness slip on HB 2467 and HB 2495 and voice your opposition. Find the instructions for how to fill out your slip here. Then click on the following links:

* At this time, witness slips are not available. Please stay tuned, as they will be posted when they become available.