Illinois Passes Bill Forcing Doctors to Refer Patients to Abortionists

If Illinois’ SB 1564, passed by both houses of the state congress, is signed into law by the governor, doctors will be required by law to refer patients to abortionists even if they have religious or moral objections to the practice.

As it stands today, Illinois health professionals are not only exempt from providing abortions themselves, they are under no obligation to provide information to their patients that would make it easier for them to seek one from another clinic.

SB 1564 would change that, but it would also run afoul of several laws that prohibit just this type of government intrusion. Under current federal law, state governments risk losing federal funding if they discriminate against doctors who refuse to offer abortions or refuse to refer patients to places that do.

The bill may also violate Illinois’ religious freedom law, which prohibits the state government from burdening any individual’s conscientious beliefs unless there is “compelling government interest” in doing so.

Liberals may argue that the state has such an interest in this case, but that’s a tough pill to swallow. It’s not exactly hard to find abortion information from a source other than your regular physician. If you found him, you can find Planned Parenthood.

That said, leftists certainly have a “compelling interest” in passing legislation like this. They are desperate to take away abortion’s “stigma,” turn it into a plain old healthcare practice like anything else, and put an end to the debate once and for all.

Not only that, but liberals have shown time and again that winning is not enough. They don’t just want their sick agenda legalized, they want to make it illegal to oppose it in any meaningful way. And if that means they have to take a pair of scissors to the Bill of Rights, well, they will gleefully do just that.