Illinois Law Doesn’t ‘Eliminate All Restrictions on Abortions,’ Contrary to Ad from Advocacy Group – FactCheck.org

In digital adverts, a political advocacy group makes the false declare that Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Illinois Democrats voted to “get rid of all restrictions on abortions up till the day of beginning.”

Illinois regulation doesn’t permit for abortions after fetal viability until the pregnant individual’s life or well being is in danger.

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court docket in June, abortion has change into a prime concern within the 2022 elections — together with within the Illinois governor’s race, the place Republican state Sen. Darren Bailey is difficult Pritzker.

Illinois is amongst states which have handed or expanded beforehand handed legal guidelines that shield the precise to an abortion.

Illinois Household Motion, a Christian nonprofit political advocacy and lobbying group, has been working an advert this month titled “Who Are The Extremists?”

The advert was shared on the group’s web site, YouTube and Fb.

The caption of the Fb advert says, “Who Are The Extremists? Do you know that JB Pritzker & state Democrats voted to get rid of all restrictions on abortions in Illinois? That’s proper, Illinois Democrats assist abortion as much as the day of beginning & need taxpayers to foot the invoice.”

Illinois Household Motion spent about $1,000 for the Fb advert, which acquired over 48,000 views, based on Fb’s advert library.

The nonprofit shared different posts with the declare as effectively. 

A spokesperson for Illinois Household Motion advised us in a cellphone interview that the advert is about Senate Invoice 25, often called the Reproductive Well being Act.

However that invoice, which turned regulation, doesn’t get rid of all restrictions on abortions in Illinois. 

The Reproductive Well being Act was handed by Illinois lawmakers and signed into regulation by Pritzker in 2019. The regulation protects the precise to an abortion and states that “each particular person has a elementary proper to make autonomous selections about one’s personal reproductive well being.”

It additionally requires medical insurance to “cowl key preventive care providers with out out-of-pocket prices for sufferers.” 

The Reproductive Well being Act permits for abortions after fetal viability, however solely to “shield the life or well being of the affected person.” Fetal viability is outlined within the regulation as being the purpose when there’s a “vital probability of a fetus’ sustained survival exterior the uterus with out the appliance of extraordinary medical measures.”

That’s usually thought of to be about 24 weeks of gestation. In keeping with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, about 99% of U.S. abortions in 2019 occurred by 20 weeks’ gestation or much less.

The Illinois regulation says, “A well being care skilled might present abortion care in accordance with the well being care skilled’s skilled judgment and coaching and based mostly on accepted requirements of scientific observe in keeping with the scope of his or her observe beneath the Medical Follow Act of 1987, the Nurse Follow Act, or the Doctor Assistant Follow Act of 1987. If the well being care skilled determines that there’s fetal viability, the well being care skilled might present abortion care provided that, within the skilled judgment of the well being care skilled, the abortion is important to guard the life or well being of the affected person.”