Contact: Joshua Mercer, 517-212-0419, mercer -at – catholicvote – dot- org
CHICAGO — CatholicVote.org, a national Catholic advocacy group is warning Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner that support for new legislation forcing taxpayers to directly fund abortion will effectively doom his re-election bid in 2018.
CatholicVote.org President Brian Burch issued the following statement:
“We have been following the developments surrounding H.B. 40, a new spending bill pending before the Illinois General Assembly that, if passed, would authorize the use of state dollars to fund abortion services for qualified Medicaid recipients. Should Governor Rauner sign the bill as it is currently written, pro-life voters will be left with no choice but to oppose his candidacy next year.
“We have been in conversation with pro-life groups around the state. The overwhelming consensus is that support for any legislation that would coerce Illinois taxpayers into directly funding abortion would disqualify him from receiving their support.
“We understand Governor Rauner has been unfairly blamed for the budget crisis and financial catastrophe created by Democrat political leaders in recent decades. The state owes $10 billion in unpaid bills, with tens of billions more in unfunded liabilities. Yet now politicians want to spend scarce state resources to pay for abortions. Rauner’s support of this reckless bill would rip apart the Republican Party and destroy any chance of his re-election.
“Let me be clear. If Governor Rauner signs the bill as written, we will urge our members along with every pro-life voter in the state to support an alternative candidate — or to abstain from voting for his re-election. And we won’t be the only group doing so.
“Governor Rauner pledged to remain neutral on social issues. He repeatedly said he does not have a social agenda yet is already defending himself in a lawsuit for breaking this promise. If Bruce Rauner signs his name to this abortion spending bill, he cannot be trusted with another term as Governor.”
CatholicVote.org, a national faith-based advocacy group with over 600,000 members and is based in Madison, WI.
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