THE ILLINOIZE: Thursday Free for All...Conservative groups challenge abortion law...Madigan trial
November 21, 2024
Good morning, Illinois.
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The House and Senate are in at 10.
There’s nothing on Governor Pritzker’s public schedule today.
Let’s get to it.
YOUR THURSDAY FREE FOR ALL
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Anti-abortion groups sue Illinois over state law requiring insurers cover abortion (Chicago Sun-Times)
A coalition of anti-abortion groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging the state’s law that mandates health insurers in Illinois cover abortion care.
The groups argue that they are being forced to indirectly pay for abortions with their premiums, and contend that the law is unconstitutional because it provides “no exceptions or accommodations for employers or individuals who object to abortion on religious or moral grounds.”
The federal lawsuit was filed against Gov. JB Pritzker, Attorney General Kwame Raoul and acting Illinois Department of Insurance Director Ann Gillespie.
Attorneys with the Thomas More Society filed the lawsuit on behalf of Students for Life of America; Midwest Bible Church; Pro-Life Action League; Illinois Right to Life; Clapham School, a private school in Wheaton; DuPage Precision Products, a manufacturing company in Aurora; and several individuals.
“For Christians and many other pro-life advocates, Illinois’ abortion-coverage mandate is fundamentally opposed to their religious beliefs and runs roughshod over their constitutionally protected conscience rights,” Peter Breen, executive vice president of the Thomas More Society, said in a statement. “...There’s no reason for pro-life individuals and organizations to be denied the option to choose an insurance policy that exempts them from covering others’ elective abortions.”
A spokesperson for the governor’s office called the lawsuit “extreme” and said it aims to take away reproductive care for women.
“This is nothing but another extreme action that would put the safety of women seeking reproductive care in jeopardy,” said Alex Gough, a spokesperson for Pritzker’s office. “As long as Gov. Pritzker is in office, Illinois will continue to protect access to reproductive care for those who seek it in our state.”
In response to the lawsuit, Raoul said in a statement that he remains committed to protecting access to coverage for reproductive health care including abortion, “because cost should not stand in the way of patients receiving critical abortion care.”
“Abortion is health care, and too many women around the nation have died or experienced near-fatal medical emergencies because they were deprived of access to lifesaving abortion care,” Raoul said in a statement.
Related: Anti-abortion groups, employers sue Pritzker over Illinois abortion law (Chicago Tribune)
Demand for abortion pills spiked in Illinois, countrywide after Trump reelection (Chicago Sun-Times)
‘This is how I award my good soldiers’: Ex-precinct captain testifies Madigan gave him yearly $45,000 do-nothing consulting contract (Chicago Tribune)
Ed Moody spent a lifetime as one of Michael Madigan’s most loyal precinct captains: an enthusiastic door-knocker, prolific vote-getter, and key pillar to the House speaker’s prodigious political power.
But that dynamic was flipped on its head Wednesday, when Moody strode into federal court to testify as a crucial prosecution witness in his former boss’s corruption trial.
In a highly anticipated moment, Moody, 60, entered U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey’s 12th-floor courtroom in a dark gray suit and walked briskly past Madigan at the defense table without looking in his direction. The ex-speaker’s gaze followed him all the way to the witness stand.
“My name is Ed Moody,” he began, and continued his testimony with a relaxed attitude and a voice so loud that prosecutors asked him to back off the microphone. From the defense table, Madigan stared at Moody, his mouth downturned but otherwise expressionless.
Moody was then asked a question at the center of the corruption case: How much work did he do over the years in exchange for monthly checks from various ComEd contractors close to Madigan?
Little to none, Moody answered.
Moody’s testimony, which largely mirrored what he told a jury in last year’s related “ComEd Four” bribery trial, could be highly damaging for Madigan. He is the only one of the subcontractors paid by the utility to take the stand against the former speaker and tell the jury that Madigan was behind the surreptitious arrangement.
During his nearly four hours on direct examination, Moody took the jury through his four decades in politics, which began with a chance meeting with Madigan while out walking with his twin brother, Fred, in Chicago’s West Lawn neighborhood.
It was during their time as Madigan’s top political workers that Moody said the speaker first agreed to get him some more money — but it came with a catch.
“(Madigan) said if I leave my politics, if I stopped doing what I was doing, I would lose the contract,” Moody testified, saying he took that to mean that Madigan “influenced getting it, and he could influence me losing it.”
Moody said the speaker also told him: “This is how I award my good soldiers.”
Related: Ex-precinct captain says Madigan tied $354K in ComEd pay to political work: ‘This is how I reward my good soldiers’ (Chicago Sun-Times)
Wiretap: In pushing for Madigan-backed appointment, ex-ComEd CEO sought to ‘take good care’ of ‘our friend’ (Capitol News Illinois)
Madigan jurors hear about $1.3 million funneled to speaker's allies by ComEd for do-nothing jobs (Chicago Sun-Times)
‘Magic list’ of Madigan-connected lobbyists shown to jury in ex-speaker’s corruption trial (Chicago Tribune)
Federal judge to end Madigan-related criminal case against AT&T Illinois (Chicago Sun-Times)
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POLITICAL POTPOURRI
NW suburban state Rep. Martin McLaughlin on track for reelection by just 47 votes (Chicago Sun-Times)
Conservative group asks US Supreme Court to reverse ruling that allows Illinois mail-in ballots to be counted after Election Day (Chicago Tribune)
Here’s why some lawmakers want to ban paper mail going into Illinois prisons (WBEZ)
Judge dismisses biometric data privacy lawsuit citing revised state law (Capitol News Illinois)
Ex-political operative gets reduced sentence for bribery after cooperating with feds (Chicago Sun-Times)
Same-sex married couples brace for Trump's second term: 'The stakes are a lot higher now' (Chicago Sun-Times)
Johnson's proposed alcohol tax hike likely dead amid pushback from Chicago's hospitality industry (Crain’s Chicago Business)
State-funded electric vehicle chargers open in Joliet, thousands more to come (Capitol News Illinois)
Editorial: The transportation balancing act: Metra’s foreboding look at the future demands everyone’s attention (Daily Herald)
Editorial: The Bears give the Michael Reese site a second look (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Opinion: How quickly would Ryans have Bears at Arlington Park? (Daily Herald)
Opinion: State's pension mess could be hot topic for Pritzker, legislators (Champaign News-Gazette)
Opinion: Gov. JB Pritzker has learned nothing from presidential election’s wake-up call (Chicago Tribune)
Opinion: Medical debt eradication effort takes its first $72M off the books (Shaw Media)
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