Federal Judge Permanently Blocks Illinois Law Targeting Pro-Life Pregnancy Counseling

Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A federal judge permanently blocked an Illinois law on Dec. 14 that he previously called “stupid” that targets maternal health care centers and sidewalk counselors for expressing their pro-life message.

The state of Illinois consented to the injunction and the dismissal of the underlying lawsuit filed against it.

Plaintiffs who sued to stop the law objected to it because it declared that the pro-life speech engaged in by pregnancy help ministries was a “deceptive business practice.”

They litigated to protect the right of pro-life pregnancy help centers and sidewalk counselors across the state to continue their work reaching out to women across the Land of Lincoln facing unplanned pregnancies.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, appeared on CNN on Aug. 4 to defend the law.

The statute is constitutional, the governor argued at the time.

“Well, it’s just like the case against President [Donald] Trump,” he said.

“You have a right to free speech, but you don’t have a right to lie. You don’t have a right to use those lies to push people into situations in which they, frankly, are breaking the law, or where they are unaware of what their full rights are. So, you know, we need to make sure that people know [what] their rights are.”

The law barred “so-called ‘crisis pregnancy centers’ from using misinformation, deceptive practices, or misrepresentation in order to interfere with access to abortion services or emergency contraception,” according to the governor’s office.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, a Democrat, previously said the now-enjoined law was needed because he had “witnessed deceptive crisis pregnancy center tactics firsthand on a visit to tour a Planned Parenthood health center in Illinois.”

There were “people who appeared as though they might work there … outside attempting to divert patients away from the health center,” he said.

Judge Iain D. Johnston of the Western Division of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued the document titled “agreed permanent injunction order” (pdf) in National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NILFA) v. Raoul. Judge Johnston was appointed in 2020 by President Trump.

The defendant, Mr. Raoul, was sued in his official capacity.

Founded in 1993, NILFA “provides pro-life pregnancy centers and medical clinics with legal counsel, education, and training,” according to the group’s website.

The judge dismissed the lawsuit “with prejudice,” meaning the case cannot be litigated again. The court “shall retain jurisdiction over this action to enforce the final judgment,” the order states. The order also states that NILFA “may file a motion seeking the costs of litigation, including reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses[.]”

On Aug. 4, Judge Johnston called SB1909, the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Businesses Practices Act, “both stupid and very likely unconstitutional,” when he signed a preliminary injunction halting its enforcement.

In that August order, Judge Johnston ridiculed the state law.

The late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia “once said that he wished all federal judges were given a stamp that read ‘stupid but constitutional,’” the judge wrote.

SB 1909 “is stupid because its own supporter admitted it was unneeded and was unsupported by evidence when challenged.”

“It is likely unconstitutional because it is a blatant example of government taking the side of whose speech is sanctionable and whose speech is immunized … SB 1909 is likely classic content and viewpoint discrimination prohibited by the First Amendment.”

The kind of speech regulated by the law “is extremely controversial,” and the law itself  “is not a constitutional regulation of professional speech.”

“Plaintiffs have established by undisputed evidence that they will be irreparably harmed absent a preliminary injunction. Their First Amendment rights will more than likely be violated, which is an irreparable harm,” the judge wrote at the time.

Peter Breen, executive vice president of the Thomas More Society, which represented NILFA in the lawsuit, weighed in on the permanent injunction in a statement on Dec. 14.

Mr. Breen hailed the victory as a big win for pro-life ministries and free speech in Illinois that would send a message to those who would enact laws that discriminate against pro-life ministries.

“The federal court was spot on in holding that SB 1909 is ‘both stupid and very likely unconstitutional,’” he said.

“SB 1909 exempts abortion facilities and their speech, while exclusively regulating pro-life organizations and their speech, in flagrant violation of the First Amendment.

“This law is just one of a number of illegal new laws enacted across the country that restrict pro-life speech. We hope this permanent injunction, with full attorney’s fees, serves as a warning to other states that would seek to follow Illinois and try to silence pro-life viewpoints.

“We are honored to represent NIFLA and other life-affirming organizations to protect them from unjust laws like SB 1909 that seek to put a halt to their good work.”

The Epoch Times reached out to Mr. Raoul’s office for comment but had not received a reply as of press time.