Prairie State Wire

The Illinois Freedom Caucus is celebrating after a law allowing individuals to sue crisis pregnancy centers under the state’s Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act was temporarily blocked. A federal judge temporarily halted the enforcement of an Illinois ruling against Attorney General Kwame Raoul in an action brought by the Thomas More Society on behalf of the National Institute of Family Life Advocates.

“This is a victory for free speech," Illinois Freedom Caucus said in an Aug. 7 post on Facebook. "Crisis pregnancy centers will continue to be able to operate while this case is being litigated without fear of being harassed or being shut down. We are confident that in the end the courts will side with common sense and the Constitution and ultimately overturn this outrageous law.”

The organization continued to say the people volunteering at these crisis pregnancy centers are exercising their First Amendment rights, and the women coming to the centers for help are choosing to do so, according to the Facebook post.

"Crisis pregnancy centers are up front and honest about their mission and about their pro-life views," Illinois Freedom Caucus continued on Facebook. "The only concern about the crisis pregnancy is not the volunteers who work at these clinics, but the deranged pro-abortion lunatics who are setting off bombs at these clinics to intimidate pro-life people."

The group said Raoul should be more focused on protecting people from the "mentally unstable pro-abortion advocates who believe their political world view provides just cause to commit violence against people with whom they disagree," instead of "denying the free speech rights of pro-life activists," according to the Facebook post.

The lawsuit was launched by Thomas More Society to stop SB 1909, which provided a legal mechanism to block pregnancy resource centers from seeking to attract would-be mothers that may be considering getting an abortion, according to a WTTW news report. The judge issued a preliminary injunction on the grounds that the law likely violated the First Amendment, causing a conflict between abortion rights advocates who claim these centers employ deceptive tactics and anti-abortion groups asserting their First Amendment rights.

Judge Iain Johnston’s ruling on the matter was a harsh rebuke of the Illinois lawmakers who passed the bill, according to a Capitol News Illinois report. 

“Justice Scalia once said that he wished all federal judges were given a stamp that read ’stupid but constitutional,’” Johnston said, according to Capitol News Illinois. “SB 1909 is both stupid and very likely unconstitutional.”

Former state Rep. Peter Breen argued the case on behalf of National Institute of Family Life Advocates and other pro-life ministries, including pregnancy care centers in Illinois, Effingham Radio reported.

“Free Speech won today in the Land of Lincoln — pro-life advocates across Illinois can breathe a sigh of relief they won’t be pursued for ‘misinformation’ by Attorney General Kwame Raoul,” Breen said to Effingham Radio. “Across the nation, pregnancy help ministries are being discriminated against by laws that target their life-affirming work. The injunction granted today sends a strong, clear message to the country that the First Amendment protects pro-life speech.”