Prairie State Wire

On May 11th, both the Illinois House and Senate passed Senate Bill 1909, which puts pro-life crisis pregnancy centers under the same business regulations as car dealerships and retailers.

This would give the state Attorney General authority to impose fines of up to $50,000 on the centers if they are deemed to have been using deceptive marketing tactics or practices in their communication with consumers. Opponents of the bill cite the lack of clear distinction on what these deceptive practices entail, asking for clear regulations, while supporters of the bill cite harms done by these pregnancy centers on patients who felt they were led astray or not fully informed before their procedures or appointments.

SB1909 is led by Representative Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago), self-proclaimed as “Illinois’ lesbian lawmaker”.

In a video posted to her own YouTube page, Cassidy said, “I hear a lot of defense of folks getting to say whatever they want to folks in vulnerable positions, and that it's okay to lie. The processes that some folks have described at certain facilities as long as you're not lying there's nothing to be afraid of. But to hear my colleagues from the party of government small enough to fit my uterus defend lies and deception is ridiculous. There is no compelled speech in this bill; this protects everyone's rights. Please vote Yes.” 

”She shared stories of a nurse from a center in Kansas talking about an outbreak of genital warts because untrained volunteers were performing procedures.

Representative Bill Hauter (R - Morton) spoke during the debate against SB1909, asking “So are we allowed to have from the attorney general a document or some guidance of approved speech so that we can have some idea what would be considered wrong or lying?” after inquiring if statements from churches attached to some of the centers could be targeted, worried about the freedom of speech and religion. The response from leading sponsor Terra Costa Howard (D-Glen Ellyn) was repeated it would fall to “the Attorney General's office to make that determination on a case-by-case basis.” His continued concerns of due process and a lack of equal treatment between pregnancy centers and Planned Parenthood locations were met with the same response.