Prairie State Wire

Family PAC Federal Director Paul Caprio is encouraging voters to examine the backgrounds of the candidates in Illinois’ U.S. Senate race.

Kathy Salvi is the GOP candidate running for election.

The incumbent, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) is in support of federal abortion legislation that will strip rights from parents.  

“From what I know of Kathy Salvi, she is supporting – so I'm told – a very strong parents rights agenda for her campaign,” Caprio told Prairie State Wire. “She is supporting, if elected, to the U.S. Senate, also the Hyde Amendment, which would prohibit federal funds. You know, people are wondering these days. It seems like we're spending a lot of money and then nobody knows where it's coming from and nobody knows what it's for. That seems to be the general theme of what's going on in D.C. and I think you're going to see a pretty strong parents rights, taxpayer rights campaign coming out of Kathy Salvi as the days go on.”

Salvi and Duckworth are on opposite ends of the abortion debate.

Duckworth singled out military members earlier this year in her effort to maintian abortion access.

As a member of a coalition of lawmakers, Duckworth noted the military bases in states that have now outlawed abortion.

“Many of the states expected to prohibit or greatly limit abortions are home to military installations including Arizona, Florida, Georgia and Texas. In Missouri, even in cases of ectopic pregnancies, doctors are forced to wait to the point at which a mother's life is threatened before lifesaving abortion procedures can be performed. These laws could force servicemembers in these states to face criminal prosecution or life-threatening circumstances,” the lawmakers wrote.

Caprio wrote a letter to the editor to the Wall Street Journal dated Aug. 25 on the topic. 

“Your Aug. 25, 2022 editorial The GOP’s Abortion Problem, is correct in stating that ‘Democrat Pat Ryan won with about 52% of the vote by making abortion rights his main issue. (In New York CD 19) Democrat turnout exceeded expectations,’” Caprio wrote. “Why did Mr. Molinaro, the GOP candidate, lose an election that most GOP experts thought he should win?”

Caprio said the WSJ editorial of June 10 "clearly explained" abortion as a nuanced issue with most voters.

“Yet every House Democrat (except Henry Cuellar) is on the far extreme on the issue of abortion. As the WSJ points out in the June 10 editorial, the House Democrats passed the Women’s Health Protection Act that 'guarantees abortion access through viability and through all nine months if a health provider deems the pregnancy a health risk. It also protects sex selective abortion and undercuts state laws that require parental notification for minors considering abortion,’” he wrote. “How far out have the Democrats gone here?”

He wrote that 55% of Americans told Gallup that abortion should generally be illegal in the second trimester.

“In the year of 'angry parents,' more than 70% of voters support parental notification, even in blue states, in poll after poll,” Caprio wrote. “Yet instead of launching a successful counterattack on Ryan on these issues, the Republican candidate followed the GOP party line.”

He said the election is about inflation, not abortion.

“My experience is that either No. 1, destruction of the opponent’s credibility or No. 2, successful counterattack (which should have been the case here) is what wins close campaigns. Neither was present in the GOP candidate’s failed campaign,” Caprio said. “As long as the House GOP gives their candidates flawed advice on the issue of abortion, the proposed GOP committee chairman should hold off on the portraits.”

The Women's Health Protection Act passed the U.S. House.

The bill provides a federal override allowing the Department of Justice or individuals to bring lawsuits if abortion access is restricted.

The bill is expected to override most state laws on the issue, including newly instituted abortion bans.

"What it does primarily is it creates a right to abortion, all nine months of pregnancy [and] it would invalidate pretty much all state legislation that's been passed," Jennifer Popik, a lawyer and director of federal legislation at anti-abortion group, National Right to Life told ABC News.