A wonderful group of folks from all across Illinois came to the state capitol today to tell the House Agriculture Committee: Women are not Livestock!

While the rally was a success in drawing attention to the issues, HB 3156 passed out of the committee on a 13-0 vote. The fight now moves to the House floor.

Urge your Representative to oppose HB 3156, which adds unnecessary governmental regulations to reproductive health care providers and women seeking to terminate a pregnancy.

Illinois officials could deport and scrutinize illegal immigrants if legislation proposed by a suburban legislator gains traction.

According to an article in the Chicago Sun-Times, Rep. Randy Ramey, Jr. (R-Carol Stream) has introduced legislation that patterns itself after the Arizona law signed last April that drew a legal challenge from the Obama Administration. As in Arizona, Ramey’s bill would allow police to determine the immigration status of a person if the official reasonably suspects that the person is in the state illegally. It could also put the illegal immigrant on the deportation track.

Joshua Hoyt, executive director for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said illegal immigrants pay income, sales and property taxes.

Hoyt said Ramey is a marginal character within the Illinois Republican Party and the party leadership, including state Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) and U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), did not embrace the type of immigration views Ramey is promoting while on the campaign trail last year.

“This bill would allow bad cops to hunt Mexican-Americans across the state based on the color of their skin,” Hoyt said.

Read the whole story here.