Chicago, Ill., May 28, 2019 / 17:24 pm
The Catholic bishops of Illinois criticized a push to pass a bill enshrining abortion in state law in the final days of the legislative session, without hearings or the public release of a final text.
They said the bill is a drastic overhaul of current abortion law that would go "further than Roe v. Wade in stripping human rights and dignity from the unborn child."
"The fundamental premise of the bill is flawed, and no amendment or tweak to the language will change the fact that it is designed to rob the vulnerable life in the womb of any trace of human dignity and value," the six bishops of the state said in a May 26 statement.
Illinois' Reproductive Health Act – which the bishops said is misleadingly named – would declare abortion to be a "fundamental right." It would remove several parts of the state's current abortion laws, several of which are not currently being enforced due to court injunctions.