Found in the Decatur News-Gazette and reprinted with permission of author Judy Cocks:
My Turn | Illinois’ ‘pro-choice’ priorities are backwards for women
“Take a Tylenol and a laxative,” Dr. Keith Reisinger-Kindle is reported to have told his patient when she reported excruciating pain, cramps and difficulty breathing after a second-trimester dilation and extraction abortion he performed at his Champaign abortion clinic.
She needed far more than a couple of pills to stop the pain.
When she arrived at the ER later that day, the surgical team was horrified by what they discovered.
Her uterus had been punctured, with half of her 22-week-old baby remaining in her pelvis and parts of the baby’s skull attached to her intestines.
When the woman — “Jane Doe” — sued Dr. Reisinger-Kindle for negligence, it was revealed he hadn’t used digoxin to stop the baby’s heart before the procedure — meaning the baby was alive during the dismemberment.
In court filings, Dr. Reisinger-Kindle is attempting to force Jane Doe to reveal her name publicly, a tactic to intimidate her into silence.
This is a far cry from health care. In a just world, such negligence would have cost Dr. Reisinger-Kindle his medical license.
Yet, according to reporting, he escaped with a $5,000 fine and a requirement to complete 20 hours of continuing medical education, retaining his Illinois physician’s license.
The lawsuit remains pending.
At Women’s Help Services, where I serve as executive director, I’ve witnessed the heartbreak, regret and pain that often follows abortion.
Our centers offer free ultrasounds, counseling, parenting classes and material resources to empower women, ensuring they don’t feel alone in their pregnancy and parenting journey.
We never force a woman to choose life for her baby; we provide alternatives to abortion for those who seek them.
Many of us do this work because we’re Christian and believe in the inherent value of every human life.
Meanwhile, Illinois politicians try to target pro-life pregnancy centers like mine with crippling fines and unconstitutional mandates while allowing abortionists like Dr. Reisinger-Kindle to evade serious scrutiny.
In 2023, represented by my attorneys at Thomas More Society, we sued the J.B. Pritzker administration to stop Senate Bill 1909, which redefined our pro-life speech as “deceptive” “misinformation” in the state’s lawbooks.
SB 1909 sought to impose fines of up to $50,000 on pregnancy centers for the alleged “deception” that is offering abortion alternatives.
Thankfully, this law, which could have bankrupted centers like ours across the state, was blocked a week later by a federal judge for its blatant unconstitutionality.
The Illinois attorney general agreed to a permanent injunction, ensuring the law will never be enforced.
The contrast is stark: a $5,000 fine for an abortion that nearly killed a woman versus a proposed $50,000 penalty — 10 times as much — for pregnancy centers offering compassionate, free alternatives.
This disparity reveals Illinois’ goal of silencing pro-life voices while shielding an industry that profits from women in desperate situations (surgical abortions in Illinois cost between $495 and $1,385).
These policies aren’t about protecting women — they deny them abortion alternatives, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation by prioritizing the profit-driven abortion industry over women’s safety.
The battle to preserve pregnancy centers’ First Amendment and conscience rights continues in Illinois. We have fought for nearly a decade against SB 1564, which amends the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act (HCRCA) and mandates that pro-life pregnancy centers refer for and promote abortion — forcing us to violate our belief that abortion is wrong.
In April 2025, an Illinois judge struck down the mandate to promote abortion, but the referral requirement persists.
For us, referring for abortion is unthinkable when women seek our compassionate support for their and their babies’ futures.
This case is now before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Pro-life pregnancy centers are not the enemy.
We exist to support women with love, resources and hope — often inspired by our faith — ensuring they never face the trauma endured by Jane Doe.
Illinois’ attacks on us target the women we serve, our conscience protections and our faith.
If Illinois truly cares about women and its “pro-choice” principles, it must stop punishing those who offer life-affirming choices and hold accountable those who endanger women’s lives. Until then, I — along with hundreds of pregnancy help staff, volunteers and ministries across the state — will not stop fighting. We will not be silenced, and we will continue advocating for women who deserve better than a system that profits from their pain.
Judy Cocks is executive director of Women’s Help Services, which operates pregnancy help locations in McHenry County.
