SPRINGFIELD, IL – This week, legislation was introduced in the Senate and the House banning the use of taxpayer dollars to finance elective abortions. The legislation reverses key portions of a new, controversial law that expanded taxpayer funding to pay for voluntary abortion procedures.
In other state news, a new task force targeting the rise of opioid deaths in Illinois met this week. It’s estimated that in 2017 nearly 1,900 people in Illinois will die due to an opioid overdose.
Legislation filed to ban taxpayer funds for elective abortions
Legislation has been introduced in the Senate and the House (Senate Bill 2241 and House Bill 4114) that would roll back key provisions of the controversial House Bill 40, a measure recently signed into law that allows tax dollars to fund abortions for any reason, including elective procedures.
The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act was drafted using the federal Hyde Amendment as its model, which prevents federal funding for abortions, other than abortions sought in connection with pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, or that threaten the life of the mother. Federal law already requires states provide Medicaid-financed abortions in these situations; the recently-introduced legislation would roll back state law to mirror Federal law.
Proponents of the new legislation also point out that while the federal government typically matches a state’s Medicaid expenses, it will not do so for elective abortions. It’s estimated that under House Bill 40, taxpayers could pay millions of dollars to finance elective abortion procedures through the Medicaid program.
Task Force begins listening tour as part of state effort to battle Illinois’ growing opioid epidemic
More than 1,900 people in Illinois are expected to die of an opioid overdose this year. The state’s growing number of opioid overdose deaths prompted the creation of a new task force that began a statewide listening tour this week, as part of a coordinated effort to identify strategies to curtail the state’s growing opioid crisis, reduce opioid-related deaths and better treat individuals battling opioid dependency.
Members of the Opioid Overdose Prevention and Intervention Task Force met in Chicago, and heard from 17 experts, including law enforcement, medical professionals, community advocates and individuals and families whose lives have been touched by opioid use disorder. The task force is charged with developing a comprehensive strategy that brings together law enforcement, health care representatives, the education community and state and local governments to address opioid-use disorder.
Opioid-use disorder is a growing crisis in Illinois that impacts people from all walks of life, in communities across Illinois. According to the Rauner administration, since 2013 heroin deaths in Illinois have doubled and opioid overdoses have quadrupled. Between 2013 and 2016, drug overdose deaths went up by nearly 50 percent, while overdose deaths involving opioids increased 76 percent. Those overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, increased by a staggering 258 percent.
The Task Force will look at how to increase the number of providers that use the Illinois Prescription Monitoring Program; reduce high-risk opioid prescribing; make information and resources more accessible to the public; strengthen data collection, analysis, and sharing; reduce the number of overdose deaths of individuals recently released from an institutional facility; and increase naloxone availability and training.
Members of the Task Force include officials from the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board, Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, Illinois State Police, and from Illinois Departments of: Financial and Professional Regulation, Human Services, Public Health, Juvenile Justice, Insurance, Corrections, and Healthcare and Family Services.