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Illinois’ attorney general will not enforce a law that limits pro-life pregnancy centers in how they counsel clients, lawyers for the clinics and related groups said Monday.
State Attorney General Kwame Raoul has agreed to a permanent injunction against the law, which aimed to bar the pro-life clinics from using any “deceptive business practice” to counsel clients and defined the sharing of certain information about the risks of abortion as “consumer fraud,” the lawyers said.
The agreement bars the state from prosecuting the clinics and grants attorney fees to the organizations that sued to block the measure.
Gov. Jay Pritzker, a Democrat, signed the Deceptive Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Centers Act on July 27.
The law was immediately challenged by the Thomas More Society, a Catholic public interest law firm representing the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates and four other pro-life organizations. The groups sued Mr. Raoul, claiming the measure violates First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and religion.
U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston, a Trump appointee, issued a temporary injunction blocking enforcement of the law, which he held was “both stupid and very likely unconstitutional,” according to Peter Breen, the More Society’s executive vice president and head of litigation.
“This law is just one of a number of illegal new laws enacted across the country that restrict pro-life speech — we hope this permanent injunction, with full attorney’s fees, serves as a warning to other states that would seek to follow Illinois and try to silence pro-life viewpoints,” Mr. Breen said.
Thomas Glessner, founder and president of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, hailed the agreement and said the Illinois law “was an absolute weaponization of government that unfairly and unconstitutionally targeted pregnancy centers simply because they refused to refer for or perform abortions.”
In a statement, Mr. Raoul said the settlement leaves the law unchanged.
“As filed, this proposed order is agreed to by the parties in this case and in no way affects my ongoing work protecting women’s rights to access the full range of reproductive health services,” Mr. Raoul’s statement said. “Furthermore, this proposed order does not alter Illinois’ Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Practices Act or my office’s preexisting authority under the act, and I remain committed to protecting consumers against all deceptive practices.”
A Raoul spokeswoman told The Washington Times, “We have nothing to add at this time.”
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