Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act

SB 1716 Amended to Become Civil Unions Bill!!!

As we enter the final week of this Spring's legislative session, things are moving quickly in Springfield. This afternoon the House Youth and Families Committee voted 4-2 to amend SB 1716 to become the Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions bill. The language remains the same as HB 2234.

Why the change in bill number?

If HB 2234 remained the Civil Unions legislation, it would have to be read three times in the Senate and go through a Senate Committee before being voted upon. The posting requirements for legislation would require waiting for at least 6 days to allow public input on the legislation. By amending SB 1716, a bill which has gone through a committee meeting in the Senate already and has already had all three readings, the Homosexual Lobby can theoretically pass the bill out of the House, and and within hours have the Senate vote to concur with the House Amendment. This is a legal but crafty move to try to make sure that their legislation (if they can acquire the required number of votes) will be able to pass out of the General Assembly before the legislature adjourns on May 31.

What can be done to stop SB 1716?

This legislation can be stopped! Call your State Representative and State Senator. Ask them if they have read the bill. Ask if they realize that a "'Party to a civil union' means...'spouse', 'family', 'immediate family', 'dependent', 'next of kin', and other terms that denote the spousal relationship, as those terms are used throughout the law." IF THIS CIVIL UNIONS LEGISLATION IS PASSED INTO LAW, IT WILL SET UP THE STATE OF ILLINOIS FOR A LAWSUIT ALLEGING DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF "SEXUAL ORIENTATION," STATING THAT ILLINOIS FAILS TO MEET THE "EQUAL PROTECTION" REQUIREMENTS OF THE ILLINOIS CONSTITUTION.

The "religious freedom" aspect of this legislation only protects the "religious practice of any religious body", not the rights of individuals to practice their religious beliefs. The sponsor, Rep. Greg Harris stated in the committee today that they have gone as far as they can with the religious freedom protections. That is because this bill is designed to force the acceptance of homosexual marriage by opening individuals up to lawsuits if they refuse to participate in civil union ceremonies. e.g. A wedding photographer in New Mexico repsectfully refused to photograph a same-sex couple's "commitment ceremony" because of her religious beliefs about marriage. She would have done the same thing for a polygamous wedding. She is currently in litigation in which the Alliance Defense Fund is defending her.

Call your state legislators at (217) 782-2000, and ask them to defend marriage by voting NO on SB 1716, or you can go to the State Board of Elections website at http://www.elections.state.il.us/DistrictLocator/SelectSearchType.aspx , enter your address, and find the contact information for your STATE REPRESENTATIVE and STATE SENATOR.

If the Christian community does not get involved in this fight, we will lose! Pastors, please pass this information on to your congregations. The other side on this issue have hired a number of highly paid, skilled, and powerful lobbyists to win this fight--and they have the money to make huge political donations. We have something they do not have--the power of prayer! PRAY! PRAY! PRAY!

Pray for the Christian community to see that we will quickly lose our voice if we remain silent. Pray for the legislators to understand the issues and see what is really happening. Pray for God to raise up leaders for our state and our nation who are willing to publicly stand for righteousness. Pray for God to give Ralph Rivera and me the strength necessary in this final sprint toward the end of the spring legislative session. Pray for God to give us the wisdom and graciousness to reflect Jesus Christ during these final days. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS. REMEMBER, THE HAND OF GOD MOVES THE HEART OF THE KING!!!

In His Service, Rev. Bob