(Daily Signal)—A new Illinois law prevents pro-life organizations from hiring based on their pro-life views, meaning they could be forced instead to hire abortion advocates whose views violate their core religious beliefs.
Now, a pro-life pregnancy resource center that wants to hire a nurse to counsel women facing unplanned pregnancies and a Catholic diocese are challenging the law in federal court as a First Amendment violation.
Attorneys from the Christian law firm Alliance Defending Freedom are representing The Pregnancy Care Center of Rockford and the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday against Illinois Department of Human Rights Director James Bennett and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul. The complaint asks the court to block enforcement of the law.
The law in question, the Illinois Human Rights Act, was amended as of Jan. 1 to prohibit discrimination based on a person’s “reproductive health decisions,” including abortion, contraception, and fertility treatments. Under the new amendment, employers may not discipline or refuse to hire employees based on such reproductive health decisions and may not engage in “unwelcome” or “offensive” speech and conduct in the workplace regarding reproductive health care.
The law provides no religious exemption for pro-life organizations evaluating employees on reproductive matters. This is a violation of the organizations’ First Amendment rights of association, free exercise of religion, and free speech, according to Alliance Defending Freedom.
“Pro-life groups have a right to hire pro-life employees,” said Mark Lippelmann, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom. “It’s just absurd that the government could force an organization to hire someone who will flagrantly contradict its message.”
The Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, which has served the community for over 100 years, is seeking someone to lead its pro-life office. The employee must promote the sanctity of human life and assist with education on reproductive issues in alignment with church teaching, according to the job posting.
“Our employees represent the diocese and are expected to uphold our standards of conduct to ensure they align with the doctrine and moral teaching of the Catholic Church,” Bishop Thomas John Paprocki said in a statement to The Daily Signal. “However, under the state law, we cannot hire or retain employees based on our deeply held religious beliefs on pro-life teachings without being subject to disciplinary action. We must have the freedom to follow and express our convictions without government interference.”
The legislative history of the bill shows pro-life organizations and pregnancy centers like The Pregnancy Care Center of Rockford were always going to be in a position of conflict with the law, according to Lippelmann.
According to court documents, bill sponsor and Democrat state Sen. Laura Fine said during a legislative debate last year that religious pregnancy centers not formally affiliated with a particular denomination would “unfortunately not” qualify for any religious protections under the bill’s provisions.
Advocates of the bill at the time defended it as a necessary civil rights protection.
“My office is proud to continue to partner with Gov. [JB] Pritzker’s administration to draft legislation and identify new avenues to ensure Illinois is a safe haven for patients to access comprehensive abortion and gender-affirming care,” Illinois’ attorney general said in a press release in December. “I am committed to using the authority of my office to continue to defend against legal challenges to our laws that preserve Illinois as an oasis of reproductive health care.”
The Department of Human Rights and the Office of the Attorney General did not respond to The Daily Signal’s requests for comment.
Bypass Big Tech Censors
Why One Survival Food Company Shines Above the Rest
Let’s be real. “Prepper Food” or “Survival Food” is generally awful. The vast majority of companies that push their cans, bags, or buckets desperately hope that their customers never try them and stick them in the closet or pantry instead. Why? Because if the first time they try them is after the crap hits the fan, they’ll be too shaken to call and complain about the quality.
It’s true. Most long-term storage food is made with the cheapest possible ingredients with limited taste and even less nutritional value. This is why they tout calories so much. Sure, they provide calories but does anyone really want to go into the apocalypse with food their family can’t stand?
This is what prompted the Llewellyns to launch Heaven’s Harvest. They bought survival food from multiple companies and determined they couldn’t imagine being stuck in an extended emergency with such low-quality food. They quickly discovered that freeze drying food for long-term storage doesn’t have to mean sacrificing flavor, consistency, or nutrition.
Their ingredients are all-American. In fact, they’re locally sourced and all-natural! This allows their products to be the highest quality on the market, so good that their customers often break open a bag in a pinch to eat because they want to, not just because they have to due to an emergency.
At Heaven’s Harvest, their only focus is amazing food. They don’t sell bugout bags, solar chargers, or multitools. They have one mission – feeding Americans in times of crisis.
What they DO offer is the ability for people to thrive in times of greatest need. On top of long-term storage food, they offer seeds to help Americans for the truly long-term. They want them to grow their own food if possible which is why they offer only Heirloom, Non-GMO, Non-Hybrid, Open-Pollinated seeds so their customers can build permanent food security on their own property.
