Respect Life Ministry - Diocese of Belleville at 2620 Lebanon Ave., Bldg #2, Belleville, IL 62221 US -
State FOCA House Bill 2354
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State FOCA House Bill 2354
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Update April 2 
Greetings with good news to pass on to you from The Catholic Conference of
Illinois (CCI)! .......Thank you for your attention to this these past several weeks!!
From CCI........
Hello all:
I write to you today with great news! House Bill 2354 will not be called for a vote before tonight's deadline. The proponents of the bill (Planned Parenthood and ACLU) were not able to muster the number of votes they needed, so they will not call the bill for a vote. We estimate they were some 10 to 15 votes short of the 60 required.
This great accomplishment would not have happened without your engagement in the issue. Catholics across Illinois participated in email and phone trees, took up petition drives, met with their representatives, and many drove to Springfield to lobby in the halls of the Capitol. We must also note the leadership role assumed by our Bishops and their willingness to speak out and rally our people. All of us came together and did a great thing.
Some people and/or groups are reporting that the bill is dead for the year. Perhaps. However, we must remember that there are many ways to revive legislation, and it will not harm us to remain vigilant. We will let you know quickly if anything stirs.
It will be very important that in the weeks to come we thank those legislators who stood up for what is right and begin to think about how to build this network of opposition to House Bill 2354 into something bigger and more important -- a network dedicated to the protection of human life and religious freedom.
But for today, enjoy this well-earned win and take time to thank God. There are certainly more struggles ahead but not here, not today.
Zach Wichmann
Catholic Conference of Illinois
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4/1/09 UPDATE ALERT:
With Amendment 2 the bill still provides for expanded public funding of abortion, repels the Parental Notification of Abortion Act, significantly weakens the Health Care Right of Conscience and mandates "comprehensive sex education" for all public schools. Please click here for talking points from CCI.
Click here to view a short video with the Respect Life Director of the Archdiocese of Chicago explaining why HB2354 is bad for Illinois!
Please be advised that on February 18
Illinois House Bill 2354 (Reproductive Health and Access Act)was filed, and on February 23 assigned to the Human Services Committee. Please
click here to see the synopsis and status of the Bill.
Click here for the Fact Sheet and analysis from the Catholic Conference of Illinois. While this will be added to the agenda of our concerns for the March 4th Catholics at the Capitol day,
it needs our continued diligence throughout the legislative session.
3/6/09 UPDATE ALERT:
We expect the bill to come up for a vote this week. It will probably be heard Wednesday morning (3/11) in the House Human Services Committee. This is a tough committee for us (Catholic Conference of Illinois), and we may not be able to stop the bill from advancing to the floor, but we can and should let our voices of opposition be heard.
We need the following two members of the committee to vote NO on House Bill 2354:
Representative Mary Flowers
District office: 773-471-5200
Springfield office: 217-782-4207
Representative Sandy Cole
District office: 847-543-0062
Springfield office: 217-782-7320
Call these representatives and ask them to vote No on House Bill 2354 because it would prevent any regulation of abortion, provide for public funding of abortion, force health care workers to abandon their consciences or lose their job, and mandate comprehensive sex education.
** Please activate your phone trees and get this going! **
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