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There’s an automatic repealer in Illinois’ abortion law, but does it mean anything?

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Illinois

* The Illinois Abortion Law of 1975, passed in the wake of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, with emphasis added…

It is the intention of the General Assembly of the State of Illinois to reasonably regulate abortion in conformance with the decisions of the United States Supreme Court of January 22, 1973. Without in any way restricting the right of privacy of a woman or the right of a woman to an abortion under those decisions, the General Assembly of the State of Illinois do solemnly declare and find in reaffirmation of the longstanding policy of this State, that the unborn child is a human being from the time of conception and is, therefore, a legal person for purposes of the unborn child’s right to life and is entitled to the right to life from conception under the laws and Constitution of this State.

Further, the General Assembly finds and declares that longstanding policy of this State to protect the right to life of the unborn child from conception by prohibiting abortion unless necessary to preserve the life of the mother is impermissible only because of the decisions of the United States Supreme Court and that, therefore, if those decisions of the United States Supreme Court are ever reversed or modified or the United States Constitution is amended to allow protection of the unborn then the former policy of this State to prohibit abortions unless necessary for the preservation of the mother’s life shall be reinstated.

I bring this up because a Republican president who campaigned on repealing Roe v. Wade has a Republican US Senate.

* But the Tribune looked into this matter back in 1991…

Anti-abortion groups would likely go to court to get the 1975 law reinstated [if Roe v. Wade is overturned], but whether they would succeed remains a question. […]

“Abortions will not be illegal because there is no statute in Illinois that makes abortions generally criminal,” [Attorney Paul Linton, counsel for the anti-abortion Americans United for Life] said.

The Illinois Legislative Research Unit of the General Assembly also shares that view. It would take a new law to outlaw abortion here, the research unit concluded in a 1989 study. […]

[Colleen Connell, director of the reproductive rights project of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois] of the ACLU maintained that both the preamble and the law are unenforceable.

“The law has a unconstitutional vagueness,” she said. “It doesn’t specifically tell physicians which acts are prohibited and which are not. There’s a long-standing and unquestioned doctrine of criminal law in Illinois that says the law must be very specific.

“What the preamble says is the General Assembly didn’t like abortion, but the preamble has no legal, binding aspect.”

Thoughts?

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Dec 12, 16 @ 10:04 am

Comments

I thought that this had been repealed or amended within the last 5 years so that IF RvW was out the window, abortion in IL would not be affected.

Comment by Fav Human Monday, Dec 12, 16 @ 10:20 am
The preamble is meaningless, but Sections 3.1 and 5 provide that abortion is a Class 2 felony. Section 2 defines the term “abortion” very specifically.

Comment by SAP Monday, Dec 12, 16 @ 10:30 am
It will never stick… convenience is more important than life… plus, those aborted historically don’t vote

Comment by Springfield Since '77 Monday, Dec 12, 16 @ 10:34 am
these are dark times for reproductive rights, including birth control and access. all measures should be taken to secure rights in case of Federal action.

Comment by Amalia Monday, Dec 12, 16 @ 10:38 am
SAP is right, and the legislature might want to look at this in light of the current PEOTUS.

Comment by Archiesmom Monday, Dec 12, 16 @ 10:42 am
Memory is rusty, but wouldn’t a repeal of the law allowing it come up every once in a while and some downstate Dems would vote in favor of it, it helped them locally and there was no risk of it happening.

I may be remembering that wrong.

Comment by Oneman Monday, Dec 12, 16 @ 10:58 am
When a statute is found unconstitutional by a court, it is normally deemed to be void ab initio as if it never existed. As a result, the statute would need to be reenacted assuming Roe v. Wade were somehow overturned. It’s hard to see how the preamble helps revive the now unconstitutional abortion law, especially when the Illinois Supreme Court has long held that a preamble is not a part of the statute itself and has no substantive legal force of its own.

Comment by Tito Monday, Dec 12, 16 @ 11:00 am
The last thing we need is a pro-life vs right to choose fight in Springfield the next 2 years…

Comment by Not Rich Monday, Dec 12, 16 @ 12:05 pm
Pretty lite turnout today …can we get to Golden Horseshoe, Christmas shoppin’ and the Voice Finale Day 1

Comment by Annonin'b Monday, Dec 12, 16 @ 1:07 pm
This is the problem with these so-called Statements of Legislative Findings…or similar language. They’re nothing more than press releases put into the content of Bills, and then they clutter up the statute. Nobody I know in 40 years of lobbying has ever believed these preambles hold any weight, nor do they have the power of law.

Comment by Commonsense in Illinois Tuesday, Dec 13, 16 @ 7:44 am