SPRINGFIELD – A nonprofit law firm has filed an amicus brief urging a federal appeals court to stop Illinois from forcing pro-life healthcare professionals to promote and make referrals for abortion. Becket filed the brief last week on behalf of the Catholic bishops of Illinois and other Catholic and Orthodox groups. In National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Treto, a group of pro-life doctors and pregnancy centers and doctors challenged an Illinois law requiring healthcare professionals who decline to perform abortions for conscience reasons to tell women about the “benefits” of abortion and refer women to abortion providers.


