Salon spoke with ACLU of Illinois Reproductive Rights Project Director Lorie Chaiten about the Illinois law which allows health care providers to deny patients information based on religious objections. The ACLU is supporting legislation that would amend the Health Care Right of Conscience Act to ensure that patients get the information they need regardless of the religious affiliation of the provider. The bill will also require providers to inform patients of procedures they are unwilling to perform. The Salon article highlights the story of Angela, who was denied a tubal ligation during a c-section, and soon after, was refused access to birth control by her doctor, who had recently sold her practice to a Catholic system. Chaiten said:

Not only do women have to face the inconvenience of making—and paying—for another doctor’s appointment to get one of the most basic gynecological services, but there’s also a bigger problem: “The more we stigmatize and silo reproductive health care, the more it seems like it’s OK to treat it as not basic health care,” says Chaiten.

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The New York Times spoke with ACLU Senior Attorney Adam Schwartz on the recent federal court approval ending solitary confinement for juveniles detained in Illinois. The approval comes as part of ACLU litigation that seeks to improve conditions and services available to the young people confined at state-run juvenile justice facilities across Illinois.  Schwartz told the Times:

“What we would say is that if you get to leave your room and be in the company of staff, and have the opportunity to talk to them for eight hours every single day, there’s no longer solitary confinement,” Mr. Schwartz said. “You don’t need to use solitary confinement to keep a prison safe. We think that these new rules are consistent with running a safe and rehabilitative prison system.”

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