Court Shoots Down Forced Abortion Referrals

 

By Charlie Butts
One News Now

For a second time, courts in Illinois have expressed displeasure about the state's edict impacting pregnancy care centers.

State law forces pregnancy care centers in Illinois to post signs detailing where women can obtain abortions free or at low cost. Noel Sterett, an attorney with the law firm of Mauck & Baker in Chicago, tells OneNewsNow it also targets medical personnel.

"[Under the law] you at least have to tell the woman that abortion is a treatment option, and then tell her where she can get an abortion and the benefits of an abortion," he explains. "So this is essentially the government forcing or compelling speech of pro-life medical professionals and [in fact] explicitly targeting those doctors who have objections to these procedures."

So the law, he says, indicates the state doesn't care about conscientious objections or religious views.
Sterett explains that a federal judge has blocked enforcement of the law, but it's the second court-ordered injunction.

"The first injunction [that] we got on behalf of a select group of pregnancy care centers in state court ... wasn't as broad as this one because it only protected those pregnancy care centers involved in this case," says the attorney. "The federal court went a step further and says [it's] going to make a broad injunction protecting all healthcare professionals who have and want to exercise their right of conscience."

While the two injunctions don't necessarily mean both cases will be won, Sterett says it does give their clients encouragement that they won't have to sell abortions – which would be in direct opposition to their pro-life convictions.

Website: One News Now