Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – The legislative week did not get away without Illinois House Democrats Thursday responding to proposals Tuesday from a Republican senator to: 1) bring back the death penalty, particularly for first-degree murder; 2) grant the unborn equal protection as everyone else; and 3) classify abortion as first-degree murder.
State Rep. Gregg Johnson (pictured) (D-East Moline) said, “We’ve got a dangerous effort that would target and punish women with execution for their personal reproductive health decisions. This is reckless, this is dangerous, this is wrong. This position is so extreme that even (ex-lawmaker and two-time gubernatorial candidate) Darren Bailey, the Republican standard-bearer, asked that the bill be pulled.”
State Sen. Neil Anderson‘s (R-Andalusia) legislation makes no exceptions to the abortion ban and subsequent capital punishment for the life of the mother, pregnancy by rape, or anything else. Anderson said Tuesday he really did not want the state to execute women, but rather that the death penalty is a deterrent.
State Rep. Margaret Croke (D-Chicago) compared Anderson’s legislation to the sort of thing which has been happening in states such as Alabama, and State Rep. Dagmara “Dee” Avelar (D-Bolingbrook) said the proposals are about targeting women – not about health care.
