PRESS RELEASE: State’s Exploitative Anti-life “Bad Bills” Bring Illinois Pro-life March to State Capitol March 25
State’s Exploitive Anti-Life “Bad Bills” Bring Illinois Pro-Life March to State Capitol March 25
Thousands Descend Upon Springfield to Decry Legislative Attempts to Dehumanize the Vulnerable
Contact: Tom Ciesielka, 312.422.1333, tc@tcpr.net
(March XX, 2025 – Springfield, Illinois) – Thousands of life advocates from all corners of Illinois will gather at the State Capitol in Springfield, on March 25, 2025, for the Illinois Pro-Life March. The annual event, previously known as the Illinois March for Life, will condemn a compilation of anti-life legislation before the state legislature. These “bad bills” pose a major threat to the state’s most vulnerable members, which Mary Kate Zander, president of Illinois Right to Life, points out, includes more than the preborn, but also the aged, infirm, and defenseless women and children, who are all susceptible to exploitation.
Hosted by Illinois Right to Life and Illinois Right to Life Action, the Illinois Pro-Life March begins with a rally at the Lincoln Statue in front of the Illinois State Capitol. Dr. Christina Francis, of the American Academy of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and Dr. Matthew Eppinette, of the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity at Trinity International University, will address the damaging impact of Illinois’ anti-life legislation promoting abortion and physician-assisted suicide. Following a slate of speakers, the crowd will march around the Illinois State Capitol. At the conclusion of the Illinois Pro-Life March, participants will head into the Stratton Building to speak directly with their lawmakers at the Illinois Capitol, lobbying against the anti-life bills.
WHAT: 2025 Illinois Pro-Life March
WHEN: Tuesday, March 25, 2025, beginning at 1 p.m. (Central)
· 1 p.m. (Central) Rally, at the Lincoln Statue in front of the Illinois State Capitol
· 2 p.m. (Central) March around the Capitol complex
· 3 p.m. (Central) Lobbying with Illinois State Senators and Representatives in the Stratton Building
WHERE: Illinois State Capitol Building, 401 S 2nd St, Springfield, IL 62701
MAP: https://maps.app.goo.gl/2MSiEqGRa8J794cg9
WHO: Thousands of life advocates from across Illinois and the Midwest
SPEAKERS:
· Dr. Christina Francis, MD, CEO, American Academy of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists
· The Most Reverend Thomas Paprocki, Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Illinois
· Reverend Michael Mohr, President, Central Illinois District of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod
· The Honorable Adam Niemerg, Illinois State Representative (R-Dieterich), District 102
· Mary Kate Zander, President, Illinois Right to Life and Illinois Right to Life Action
· Jaclyn Cornell, Executive Director, Illinois Right to Life
· Erin Andrews, Executive Director, We Care Pregnancy Clinic (DeKalb, Illinois)
· Dr. Matthew Eppinette, MBA, PhD, Executive Director, Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, Trinity International University
· Mike Sander, Student Leader, weDignify, and Senior, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: IllinoisProLifeMarch.com
Same day events preceding the Illinois Pro-Life March include church services presented by the Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod.
WHAT: Catholic Mass with Bishop Thomas Paprocki, hosted by the Diocese of Springfield
WHEN: Tuesday, March 25, 2025, 10 a.m. (Central)
WHERE: Sangamon Auditorium, University of Illinois Springfield Performing Arts Center, 1 University Plaza, Springfield, IL 62703
MAP: https://goo.gl/maps/z3mhUyeNsZRTydav7
WHAT: Lutheran Matins Service, hosted by the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod
WHEN: Tuesday, March 25, 2025, 11 a.m. (Central)
WHERE: Trinity Lutheran Church, 220 S 2nd St., Springfield, IL 62701
MAP: https://goo.gl/maps/JaQ8CEUjxbXz2Mxo7
The Illinois Pro-Life March focuses heavily on objectionable legislative initiatives highlighted by Illinois Right to Life Action as the “bad bills” of 2025. Listing nine bills that pose a major threat to the state’s most vulnerable members, including women, children, those with disabilities, and the chronically ill, according to Zander.
“As other states have progressed on issues of human dignity, enacting protections that acknowledge the humanity of the preborn and defend the most vulnerable, Illinois has descended further into deep-seeded prejudices of ageism and ableism since Roe v. Wade was overturned,” said Zander. “These ‘bad bills’ stand in stark contrast to a recent report by one personal finance monitoring company, which referred to Illinois as being “among the best states to raise a family.”
The offending list includes Senate Bill 9 and House Bill 1328 – the “End of Life Options for Terminally-Ill Patients Act,” which would make Illinois the 13th state in the nation to legalize physician-assisted suicide. This marks Illinois legislators’ latest move in active discrimination against the state’s most vulnerable. The withdrawal of coverage for palliative medical care in exchange for suicide drugs has become a common experience of chronically ill individuals on public aid in states which have legalized this medical involvement in suicide.
Additionally, despite the fact that Illinois abortion laws are already among the most extreme in the nation, the current Illinois General Assembly is considering multiple abortion-related bills to further state support and taxpayer funding for the termination of babies in the womb. Proposed legislation includes a bill that would fund abortions for undocumented immigrants, another that seeks to include abortions as “student health services” at public universities, and measures which would redefine “harassment” under the Human Rights Act to incorporate any attempt by an employer to impose standards on employees’ “reproductive health decisions.”
“Legislators who have no respect for human life continue to sink to new lows in promoting abortion and defending abortionists at the expense of women and children in our state,” added Zander. “There is really no excuse for their actions, which do far more to shield abusers and negligent service providers than to protect Illinois’ most vulnerable people.”
About the Illinois Pro-Life March
The Illinois Pro-Life March - formerly known as the Illinois March for Life and the Chicago March for Life - is a project of Illinois Right to Life and Illinois Right to Life Action. The mission is to honor the dignity of every human being regardless of race, sex, age, or ability by marching on behalf of the lives lost to Illinois’ culture of death. Learn more at:IllinoisProLifeMarch.org.
About Illinois Right to Life
Illinois Right to Life is a nonprofit organization that educates on the beauty and value of all human life regardless of a person’s size, gender, race, age, or disability. Through a program combing education, research, legislation, and support, Illinois Right to Life uses a grassroots approach to build a culture of life in Illinois that welcomes and loves all human life from conception through natural death. Learn more at: IllinoisRightToLife.org.
About Illinois Right to Life Action
Illinois Right to Life Action is the state’s go-to organization for pro-life lobbying and information on defeating pro-abortion and anti-life bills. As the life-affirming voice in the Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Right to Life Action promotes a culture of life in Illinois by transforming the culture in Springfield to one less threatening and more open to protecting the most vulnerable members of the state. Learn more at: IllinoisRightToLifeAction.org.
