“Words can not express my profound disappointment of the governor’s decision to sign House Bill 40, which dramatically expands taxpayer funded abortions across the state”, McConchie said in a statement shortly after Rauner signed the measure on Thursday.
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Another Republican, the often outspoken Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, said Rauner should consider running in the gubernatorial primary as a Democrat.
The fallout from Republican Governor Bruce Rauner’s decision to expand abortion services continues. Having failed to reach one, Rauner said he feels obligated to sign the measure.
Rauner said his current position is not new; he campaigned with an acknowledged support for abortion rights in 2014.
“It’s a lot smarter political move than a lot of people are giving him credit for”, said Jackson.
“Gov. Rauner’s decision to sign legislation that will now force taxpayers to pay for all abortions, for any reason, for those on Medicaid and who are state employees, is beyond disappointing”, Rezin said.
On Friday, an IN judge issued a permanent injunction against a law that would have prohibited abortions sought specifically because the fetus had been diagnosed with Down syndrome or other disabilities.
The restrictions were signed into law previous year by Vice President Mike Pence, then the governor of Indiana.
The bill will also keep abortions legal if a Supreme Court decision overturns Roe vs. Wade.
More than two dozen states provide Medicaid coverage for abortions in cases of rape, incest or if the mother’s life is in danger, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group supporting abortion rights.
Rauner signed House Bill 40 into law on Thursday, saying in a statement that he has always been pro-choice and thus signed the bill “to be consistent with my values”.
Asked why he didn’t use his amendatory veto powers, Gov. Rauner said he saw no support for that strategy.
I am incredibly disappointed in Gov. Rauner’s decision to sign HB 40 into law. There will never come a time when Illinoisans, much less all Americans, will agree on whether a woman has the right to choose if she wants to carry a child to term.
“I made no qualms about that when I was elected governor”. A statement by the Catholic Conference of IL said, “We are deeply disturbed that Governor Rauner has broken his word and firm public promise to veto HB 40”.
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This past April, Rauner said he would veto the plan, but now he says “I tried in the spring, and I’ve tried for months as this bill was debated and ultimately passed, to find common ground with both sides of this issue”.
