NewsFlash: New Law Protects Illinois Girls
Are you tired of pro-abortion legislation passing and pro-life legislation being dead on arrival?Me too.Fortunately, on August 4th, we had a victory for human dignity!This victory was due, in part, to the efforts of our college students.I first went lobbying to stop the Illinois FOCA bill about 3 years ago. I've been hooked ever since.I've seen each year how the lobbying efforts of SFLI, though minimal (we are an educational and not a lobbying organization), can help change the course of pro-life and pro-abortion bills in Springfield. It's pretty amazing!What's more amazing is that we generally get a pretty low turn-out. Lobbying must be done during the week and it's at least an hour drive from almost all of our campuses. So, many students don't come.Even with our low numbers, our lobbying is very effective.
Victory!
One of the three bills that SFLI lobbied for this year passed and on August 4th, HB2093 was signed into law by Governor Quinn and is now Public Act 97-0254.This Act extends the list of persons required to report child abuse or neglect to include any physician, physician's assistant, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, medical technician, certified nursing assistant, social worker, or licensed professional counselor of any office, clinic or physical location that provides abortions, abortion referrals or contraceptives. (Planned Parenthood and ACLU originally lobbied against this bill, btw)This provides more protection to young girls who are victims of sexual abuse and whose abusers are using abortion to cover up their crime. The bill was inspired by the fact that Planned Parenthood has been shown to routinely cover-up sexual abuse of minors.This is a small victory for the pro-life movement. However, we must continue to demand equal protection under the law for all pre-born human beings. This is where you come in...
Come to Springfield Next Time!
Moral of the story? Next time you have the opportunity to lobby or contact your elected officials, take it! Your efforts will help us build a culture of life in Illinois!Have you ever lobbied? If not, what's holding you back? Let me know in the comments below!