News & Commentary

Today marks the 50th anniversary of Griswold v. Connecticut, the landmark Supreme Court case that struck down as unconstitutional criminal bans on the sale of contraceptives.

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:

Just a few moments ago, the Illinois Senate (on a vote of 34-19) adopted Senate Bill 1564, an amendment to the state's Health Care Right of Conscience Act. The following can be attributed to Lorie Chaiten, Reproductive Rights Project Director of the ACLU of Illinois:

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.

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:

“Go home – you’re useless to us right now.”

Thirty-six years ago this week, the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act was signed into law. The law protects pregnant workers from job discrimination, and requires that employers treat pregnant workers the same as other workers in similar situations (like those with temporary disabilities).

A recent New York Times article tells the story of Angelica Valencia, who asked her employer to accommodate her high-risk pregnancy based on her doctor’s orders. Since Ms. Valencia was 39 years old and had miscarried last year, her doctor recommended that she limit work to a full-time eight-hour shift, with no overtime. Even though her co-workers volunteered to handle the lifting and heavy machinery duties, and the busy season at her job was about to end, Ms. Valencia’s employer insisted that she work overtime without restrictions. After she gave her manager a doctor’s note explaining why she needed the accommodation, Ms. Valencia was forced to leave the job where she’d worked for three years.

When you go to the polls on November 4th, you have a chance to support unfettered access to birth control. A question on Illinois' ballots for 2014 is straightforward: Shall any insurance plan in Illinois that provides prescription coverage be required to include prescription birth control as part of that coverage?"