A coalition of anti-abortion groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging the state’s law that mandates health insurers in Illinois cover abortion care.
The groups argue that they are being forced to indirectly pay for abortions with their premiums, and contend that the law is unconstitutional because it provides “no exceptions or accommodations for employers or individuals who object to abortion on religious or moral grounds.”
The federal lawsuit was filed against Gov. JB Pritzker, Attorney General Kwame Raoul and acting Illinois Department of Insurance Director Ann Gillespie.
Attorneys with the Thomas More Society filed the lawsuit on behalf of Students for Life of America; Midwest Bible Church; Pro-Life Action League; Illinois Right to Life; Clapham School, a private school in Wheaton; DuPage Precision Products, a manufacturing company in Aurora; and several individuals.
“For Christians and many other pro-life advocates, Illinois’ abortion-coverage mandate is fundamentally opposed to their religious beliefs and runs roughshod over their constitutionally protected conscience rights,” Peter Breen, executive vice president of the Thomas More Society, said in a statement. “...There’s no reason for pro-life individuals and organizations to be denied the option to choose an insurance policy that exempts them from covering others’ elective abortions.”
A spokesperson for the governor’s office called the lawsuit “extreme” and said it aims to take away reproductive care for women.
“This is nothing but another extreme action that would put the safety of women seeking reproductive care in jeopardy,” said Alex Gough, a spokesperson for Pritzker’s office. “As long as Gov. Pritzker is in office, Illinois will continue to protect access to reproductive care for those who seek it in our state.”
In response to the lawsuit, Raoul said in a statement that he remains committed to protecting access to coverage for reproductive health care including abortion, “because cost should not stand in the way of patients receiving critical abortion care.”
“Abortion is health care, and too many women around the nation have died or experienced near-fatal medical emergencies because they were deprived of access to lifesaving abortion care,” Raoul said in a statement.
Illinois has in recent years expanded access to abortion and other reproductive care, chiefly through the Illinois Reproductive Health Act which was enacted in 2019. Among various provisions, the law requires private health insurance plans in the state to cover abortion and it includes language that treats abortion as health care.
The state has also become a prime destination for people seeking abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, a decision that removed the constitutional right to an abortion and led to several states restricting access to the procedure.
A hearing in the case has not yet been set.
