The Illinois Campaign for Reproductive Health and Access are urging Illinoisans Illinoisians Illinoisers residents of Illinois to contact their state legislators in support on H.B. 2354, the Reproductive Health & Access Act. It passed out of committee on March 11, but I haven’t heard yet when it’s due for a floor vote.
Nonetheless, now’s the time to move. (I know it’s late afternoon Friday. Monday works too.) The antis are out in full force, so your state legislator needs to hear from you.
Here’s a piece with more on the bill:
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2009/03/13/roundup-illinois-reproductive-health-act-approved-house-committee
Campaign website: http://www.illinoisreproductivehealth.org/ And action page: http://www.illinoisreproductivehealth.org/action.shtml. They’re asking for calls, and you know I’m all about picking up the phone, but they also offer a free fax tool. There’s also a really nice letter to the editor tool I really like.
More below the jump…
Stop Misinformation and Support the Reproductive Health and Access Act (HB 2354)!
On March 11, the Reproductive Health and Access Act (HB 2354) passed through the House Human Services Committee 5-2. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the bill is under attack by the Catholic Church.
HB 2354 is a comprehensive bill that will:
- Bar the government from interfering with anyone’s ability to use birth control, carry a pregnancy to term or terminate a pregnancy.
- Require all Illinois public schools to teach medically accurate, age-appropriate, comprehensive sex education. Parents would be allowed to remove their children from classes if they do not want them to participate.
- Make sure that government-funded health care programs, like Medicaid, cover basic reproductive health care services like family planning, pre-natal care and Pap tests as they do for other health care services.
The bill will give the people of Illinois access to the health care and education they need and has quickly garnered a lot of support through the state. However, the Catholic Church has come out in full force against the bill, spreading untruths about the bill to pick off our supporters.
Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop of Chicago, had a letter to the editor in the Chicago Sun-Times on Wednesday attacking HB 2354, claiming that the bill will allow employers to fire health care workers morally opposed to abortion or contraception. The misinformation about the bill is spreading quickly: churches are emailing their members a copy of the Cardinal’s letter and Catholic schools are sending letters home with their students, urging their parents to contact their legislators. However, the Archbishop’s claims are FALSE and need to be stopped. The TRUTH is the Act protects both patients and doctors. HB 2354 allows individual health care professionals to object to providing certain services, while still ensuring that patients receive timely, accurate and complete information about care options.
We must let legislators know that Illinois voters support the Reproductive Health and Access Act.
To contact your legislator or for more information about HB 2354 and the Campaign for Reproductive Health and Access, visit: www.illinoisreproductivehealth.org.