By Cole Lauterbach/Illinois Radio Network
WASHINGTON – Illinois’ Republican congressmen took a jab at Gov. Bruce Rauner’s signing of a controversial abortion bill in their vote banning the procedure 20 weeks or more after conception.
U.S. Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, said he and his six Republicans colleagues used the vote on House Resolution 36, a measure which passed the House on Tuesday and makes an abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy illegal, as a statement to Rauner that his party was still the “pro-life party.”
“The Republican Congressional Delegation really took the signing by the governor hard,” Shimkus said. “The fact that we had HR36 on the floor [Tuesday] gave us an opportunity to strike back in voting for federal legislation to protect life, as well as send a signal that we really had problems with the governor signing HB40.”
The bill Shimkus referred to was signed into law by Rauner last week. It makes Illinois the first state to allow taxpayer funds to be used for elective abortions via Medicaid and state employee health plans. Rauner said at the announcement of the signing that he wanted to give the women of Illinois the right to choose, regardless of their economic status.
In a statement Tuesday, Shimkus – along with Randy Hultgren, Peter Roskam, Adam Kinzinger, Darin LaHood, Mike Bost, and Rodney Davis – said the bill Rauner signed would allow for an unlimited number of taxpayer-funded abortions for any reason.
They said Rauner has “let down Illinois taxpayers and the unborn by signing H.B. 40.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, less than 2 percent of abortions in the United States are done after 20 weeks. More than a dozen states have laws in place that ban abortion 20 weeks or later after conception.
