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 The lawsuit was filed in Sangamon County Circuit Court on behalf of
taxpayers by the conservative Thomas More Society, along with some
state lawmakers and anti-abortion groups.
It asked a judge to block state funding for the law, arguing that
the state failed to set aside up to $30 million in the budget to pay
for abortions. The lawsuit also argued that the law could not take
effect until June 2018, instead of January, because of when it was
approved.
"The people of Illinois are opposed to taxpayer funded abortion,
especially with the terrible financial state that Illinois is in,"
Peter Breen, a Republican state lawmaker and an attorney for the
Thomas More Society, said on Thursday.
He argued that the state would have to pay for up to 30,000
abortions a year.
Illinois Republican Governor Bruce Rauner signed the bill in
September, upsetting many conservatives.
"I do not think it's fair to deny poor women the choice that wealthy
women have," Rauner said at the time.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois supported the law,
saying it would keep women from being denied abortion coverage just
because they were on Medicaid or worked for the state. Medicaid is a
government healthcare program for the poor and disabled.
Ed Yohnka, the ACLU's director of public policy and communications,
on Thursday rejected the lawsuit's contention that lawmakers needed
to designate specific funds.
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"That's like saying the General Assembly has to appropriate money
for knee replacements," he said.
About 15 other states allow Medicaid to pay for abortion, including
some required by courts, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Illinois was the first state in decades to voluntarily lift a
restriction on such services.
Illinois' Medicaid program has previously covered abortions in cases
of rape, incest and when a mother's life or health is threatened.
The expansion would enable poor women to obtain elective abortions.
The law would also allow state employees to have the procedures
covered under state health insurance.
The law's passage by the Democratic-controlled Illinois legislature
came after some other U.S. states, which are controlled by
Republicans, have sought in recent years to tighten regulations on
abortion clinics and forced closures in Texas and Kentucky.
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