On November 8th, the American people let their voice be heard in the 2016 state and national elections.
Now that we have the results, what does the situation look like from the pro-life perspective, moving forward?
Let’s start in Illinois.
State Level
House:
The Illinois House of Representatives won two pro-life votes, when pro-life Steven Reick (63rd) defeated John Bartman (63rd). Pro-life Tony McCombie (71st) also defeated pro-abortion Representative Mike Smiddy (71st). At the same time, a pro-life vote will be lost when pro-choice Katie Stuart (112th) replaces Representative Dwight Kay (112th).
Meanwhile, we lost two strongly pro-life democrats: Representative Kate Cloonen (79th) and Representative John Bradley (117th ). They were replaced by two Republicans: Lindsay Parkhurst and Dave Severin, respectively. According to Illinois Citizens for Life, the positions on abortions for these of these two representatives-elect are unknown.
Senate:
The Illinois State Senate gained two pro-life votes, with the election of former State Senator Jill Tracy (47th) and Dale Fowler (59th), both defeating pro-abortion senators.
Federal Level
On the federal level, Congress kept the pro-life majority in both the House and the Senate.
The pro-life congressmen from Illinois are:
Congressman Daniel Lipinski (D), District 3
Congressman Peter J. Roskam (R), District 6
Congressman Michael Bost (R), District 12
Congressman Rodney Davis (R), District 1
Congressman Randy Hultgren (R), District 1
Congressman John Shimkus (R), District 15
Congressman Adam Kinziner (R), District 16
Congressman Darin LaHood (R), District 18
Illinois Senator Mark Kirk, who has continuously voted pro-abortion, has been replaced by Senator Tammy Duckworth.
On the federal level, voters rejected the pro-abortion policies of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. They voted to protect the Hyde Amendment, pass the twenty-week ban, and defund Planned Parenthood. On the state level, they won two more pro-life votes in the Senate.
As pro-lifers, what we need to do now is hold our elected officials to their word, keep our legislators informed, and make sure our communities are educated on life issues. Now is the time to step up our game. With this, the pro-life movement has a chance to make great strides the next four years.