By Jill Metz, Board President

By now, you may know that the legislative session ended on Sunday evening without a final vote in the Illinois House of Representatives on establishing fairness lesbian and gay couples in our state through the adoption of civil unions. While we are disappointed that the measure did not progress to the Illinois Senate, and ultimately to the Governor, some progress was made during this difficult and historic session.
We saw an increase during the past few months in the number of state representatives who were willing to express their full and public support for the civil union measure. This is due in no small measure to the hard work of our lobbyists in Springfield, Mary Dixon and James Ferg-Cadima, and the hundreds of ACLU of Illinois members who took the time to write letters, send e-mail messages, place telephone calls and visit the offices of their state representative pointing out the fundamental importance of this proposal. We are closer today to reaching fairness for our friends, our neighbors, our colleagues and our family members in gay and lesbian relationships than we were in January - despite the distractions caused by the impeachment and removal of a sitting government and a fierce debate over tax increases and budget deficits.
Our fight for fundamental fairness goes on, and we look forward to the day when equality and fairness is written into these policies and all families in our state enjoy the same, critical legal protections. To that end, we will be back in touch with you - sooner, rather than later - with plans for a push aimed at securing passage during the November "veto" session of the legislature.
Thank you again for all your support and your help,
Jill

ACLU members and supporters around the state are taking action this week in support of the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act. The bill, which is close to passing, provides basic legal protections to gay and lesbian couples - like the ability to make emergency medical decisions for one another, or to dispose of a loved one's remains with dignity. It allows gay and lesbian couples to access all the legal protections and rights that the state grants automatically to other couples upon marriage.

Less than two weeks remain to pass this historic legislation out of the Illinois House and we need your help. Contact your legislator today, and urge them to support House Bill 2234.

In 2007, former state representative Larry McKeon testified to a House Committee about the trauma he faced when his partner was rushed to a Chicago hospital in critical condition. Despite prior visits to the same hospital, Representative McKeon was told that he could not be with his partner or be part of any end-of-life medical decisions until he provided yet another copy of the couple's health care power of attorney. During the time that Representative McKeon was gone from the hospital to retrieve the document, he partner passed away.

These basic legal protections are critically important, often in times of crisis. The denial of basic legal recognition harms Illinois families and couples most severely in times of economic insecurity, ill health and even death. Without the protections and responsibilities offered by civil union, gay couples may be unable to visit each other in a hospital, make life saving medical decisions for each other or even bury their loved one with dignity. There is no justification for denying lesbian and gay couples these protections.

Take action today in support of civil unions. Contact your legislator at http://action.aclu.org/callcu

Our country has a long and shameful history of allowing the involuntary sterilization of people with disabilities, depriving them of their rights to privacy and bodily integrity, and to make their own decisions about whether or not to become a parent. A majority of states have enacted legislation to provide protections for people in guardianship relationships. Illinois needs to join that group. For that reason, we're supporting House Bill 2290.

Under current law, a guardian of an adult with disabilities can have the ward sterilized without any court oversight and without any independent representation of the ward's best interests. The Illinois Probate Act of 1975, which governs guardianship of adult wards, does not require a guardian to seek the Probate Court's consent to such a procedure, despite the availability of less permanent birth control alternatives.

HB 2290 will require guardians to go to court first, creating a mechanism for a judge to step in and determine whether the ward agrees to the procedure and whether it is in his or her best interest. This hearing will give a ward a voice in the medical decision that affects him or her.

Under the procedure outlined in HB 2290, if the court determines that the ward is capable of making this decision for him or herself (as many people with disabilities are), the court must enter an order in accordance with the ward's decision. If the court finds the ward lacks that capacity, the court must make a determination, based on specific factors, of what is in the ward's best interest.

For some people, a vasectomy or tubal ligation is the right decision - millions of people with and without disabilities make the decision to have these procedures every year after concluding that a less permanent form of birth control is not best for them. But for people under guardianship for whom the law has given someone else the power to make medical decisions, a court needs to step in and ask whether a less permanent form of birth control - an IUD or implant for women, for example - can address the problem of unwanted pregnancy and whether one of these alternatives may be more consistent with the ward's wishes and interests.

HB 2290 has already passed the House, and is now in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Please voice your support for HB 2290 by calling the members of that committee:

Chairperson:Senator A.J. Wilhelmi 217-782-8800
Vice-Chair: Senator Don Harmon 217-782-8176
Minority Spokesperson: Senator Kirk W. Dillard 217-782-8148
Senator Randall M. Hultgren 217-782-8022
Senator Matt Murphy 217-782-4471
Senator Dale A. Righter 217-782-6674
Senator William R. Haine 217-782-5247
Senator Terry Link 217-782-8181
Senator Michael Noland 217-782-7746
Senator Kwame Raoul 217-782-5338
Senator Ira I. Silverstein 217-782-5500