Illinois Gov. Bruce Rainer signed a bill allowing taxpayer dollars to fund abortions for women enrolled in Medicaid.
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rainer signed a bill Thursday allowing taxpayer dollars to fund abortions for women enrolled in Medicaid.
Flanked by women who support abortion, the Republican governor signed HB 40 into law—much to the chagrin of his fellow Republicans.
“I believe that a woman living with limited financial means should not be put in the position where she has to choose something different than a woman of higher income would be able to choose,” he said at a Thompson Center news conference, according to Chicago Sun Times.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, 75 percent of women who undergo an abortion are either poor or low-income. Wealthy women don’t get abortions as frequently because they have the means to provide for their children and don’t feel forced to abort their children.
The governor’s decision to sign the bill flies in the face of statements he made in April when he promised to veto the bill.
“On April 14th, he announced that he would veto HB 40,” said Illinois Rep. David McSweeney, a fellow Republican. “Rauner looked the other way on the 32 percent increase in the income tax rate, made Illinois a sanctuary state and is primarily responsible for Illinois’ $16 billion backlog of unpaid bills.”
A majority of Americans do not think abortions should be funded with taxpayer dollars and support regulations barring tax dollars from killing pre-born babies in utero.
