New Illinois Law Would Allow Women To Sue Men For Unwanted Pregnancies — Regardless Of Consent
It's titled the TEXAS bill.
LightField Studios / Shutterstock New legislation was proposed in Illinois that would allow women to sue men over unwanted pregnancies from either domestic violence and sexual assault.
Illinois Democratic state Rep. Kelly Cassidy filed “The Expanding Abortion Services Act" on September 14. The bill spells out the acronym TEXAS — a direct response to Texas' restrictive abortion laws.
Representative Cassidy said the bill would outline new civil penalties for rapists and abusers in order to protect women.
What is Illinois' 'Expanding Abortion Services' or 'TEXAS' Act?
The proposed legislation (HB4146) would allow a woman to sue anyone that caused her an unwanted pregnancy.
The bill would also create a public abortion fund for non-Illinoisans — such as women in Texas — who would want an abortion as the laws are very strict there.
The new Texas abortion law states that there are no exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape, incest, or nonviable pregnancies where the fetus still has detectable cardiac activity.
It also states that anyone as the opportunity to receive a $10,000 bounty for suing someone accessing or providing access to an abortion.
The Illinois law would be the inverse of the Texas law.
It would support women wanting abortion services. It would also allow anyone to sue anyone else for unplanned pregnancy regardless of circumstances.
Representative Cassidy is also in support of eliminating the parental notice requirement for teens under 18 who need an abortion.
Unlike Texas offering a $10,000 reward for tattling on a woman having an abortion, the new Illinois law would reward the woman $10,000 in damages from sexual assault, abuse, or domestic violence.
Representative Cassidy also said that her bill will examine just how extreme the new Texas abortion law is.
Cases that win would also benefit a good cause. Half of any money won in the settlement of a case would go into a public state fund that would actually help provide abortions for residents of Texas and other states with strict abortion laws.
Planned Parenthood Illinois Action didn't take an official stance on the bill yet, however, they have said that they have seen many Texans seeking abortion coming to Illinois.
President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Illinois Action, Jennifer Welch, told Komo News that two days after the Texas abortion law took into effect, they encountered patients at multiple health centers in Chicagoland.
Even if Roe v. Wade was ever overturned, Representative Cassidy said that Illinois is untouchable.
So far the TEXAS act has been introduced in the Illinois House of Representatives but it needs to pass the House, the Senate, and then receive Governor JB Pritzker’s approval before becoming a law.
Megan Hatch is a writer at YourTango who covers news & entertainment, love & relationships, and internet culture. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.