Rep. Friess released the following statement after the passing of SB1909:
“Illinois is already the most radically pro-abortion state in the nation, yet the majority party in Springfield is still not satisfied. The democrats now, through SB 1909, seek to amend the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. The amendment specifically identifies and names pregnancy centers and purports to prohibit pregnancy centers from the “use or employment of any deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise, or misrepresentation … to interfere with or prevent an individual from seeking to gain entry or access to a provider of abortion.” In reality, the amendment targets crisis pregnancy centers in our state and seeks to unlawfully ban pregnancy centers from exercising their Constitutional right to free speech and prohibit people from telling pregnant women about the negative side effects of an abortion.
It breaks my heart to say this, but it appears that the democrats do not want to give expecting mothers an option to terminate their pregnancy and kill their unborn child. In addition, SB 1909 is an example of state government going far beyond the Constitution, pro-life advocates have an absolute Constitutional right to speak to women about pro-life options. If advocates of abortion celebrate a woman’s right to make her own reproductive health care decisions free of interference from politicians, why are those same advocates using the power of government to interfere with a woman’s ability to seek services and care from a pregnancy center?
This hypocrisy needs to end. If advocates of abortion truly wished to defend “a woman’s right to choose”, they wouldn’t exclusively advocate for abortion clinics, but would equally advocate for pregnancy care centers and the services they provide. Pregnancy care centers provide women with life-saving options for their reproductive care needs.”