Local CBS affiliate WCIA in Champaign spoke with Mindy Swank, a woman who was denied information about her options during a troubled pregnancy because of the religious objections of her care-givers. Mindy joined the ACLU of Illinois in testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Springfield on Tuesday, about a bill that would fix Illinois law so that patients can no longer be denied information about their health, due to religious objections. The bill - Senate Bill 1564 - passed out of committee with a vote of 7 to 3, and is now on its way to the Senate floor. Watch the segment below.

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Learn more about Senate Bill 1564.

Colleen Connell, Executive Director of the ACLU of Illinois, testified before the Illinois Senate Appropriations I Committee on Tuesday about how Governor Bruce Rauner's budget will harm some of the most vulnerable Illinoisans. The Governor's budget cuts will eliminate funding for foster youth ages 18-21. This is a critical age range in development, and a period when adolescents need support in preparing for a full and productive adulthood. The ACLU of Illinois represents all Illinois foster youth under a decades-long consent decree designed to improve care and services for children in the custody of the Illinois Department of Children and Family services (DCFS). Progress Illinois quotes from Connell's testimony: 

"[S]hould the proposed budget cutting continued services to foster children ages 18-21 become effective, the ACLU will return to federal court to block these cuts because they clearly violate the consent decree," ACLU of Illinois Executive Director Colleen Connell reportedly told a state Senate appropriations panel on Tuesday.

Read the article.

The State Journal-Register wrote about the ACLU-led effort to fix the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act (HCRCA) - one of the broadest and most radical religious health care refusal laws in the country. Senate Bill 1564 seeks to insure that patients get the information they need to make an informed decision about their healthcare. After a hearing on Tuesday, the bill passed 7-3 out of the Senate Judiciary Committee and is now on its way to the floor of the Illinois Senate. The State Journal-Register spoke with the bill's sponsor, State Senate Daniel Biss:

“This brings us in line with the great majority of states. We have an unusually broad Health Care Right of Conscience Act,” said Sen. Daniel Biss, D-Evanston, the bill’s sponsor. “This brings us in line with many, many states, including states that are very socially conservative.”

Biss said it is important that patients at least have information about available treatment options, even if a particular doctor, nurse or hospital doesn’t provide those options because they violate a medical provider’s religious beliefs.

Read the article.