Illinois St. Rep. Jed Davis says pregnancy centers around the state will close because of a bill making its way through the Illinois General Assembly. A pregnancy center isn’t like an abortion clinic. It’s a place for women to get services to help them through their pregnancy. But Democrats who wrote Senate Bill 1909 say the centers are fraudulent, deceptive, and misleading. Davis says the bill would allow the Illinois Attorney General’s Office to fine a pregnancy center for advertising, soliciting, or offering pregnancy-related services. He says it’s grossly wrong for Democrats to criticize them for not offering abortion services when abortion is going to remain legal in the state.
The bill’s supporters say the non-abortion clinics don’t offer comprehensive health services. Davis says it’s not fair, especially when a person goes for services at a doctor’s office that doesn’t offer a CT scan or surgery. He says he doesn’t understand why such a pregnancy center can’t advertise pregnancy services when it’s in the name.
The bill was assigned to the Healthcare Availability and Accessibility Committee and could be heard this week.