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Planned Parenthood
Quick Hit
by Ellyn Fortino
10:06am
Tue May 14

Illinois Senate May Vote On Comprehensive Sex Ed Bill This Week

A state measure that looks to revamp sex education in Illinois’ public schools was approved in the House last month and could possibly go up for a full Senate vote this week.

The bill, HB 2675, would require schools with sex education classes for grades 6 through 12 to stress abstinence, but also incorporate contraception into the discussion. Schools would also be required to provide students with information on how to avoid contracting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). 

Under the measure, schools currently teaching sex education would also have to adopt medically-accurate and evidence-based information into lesson plans.

As it stands now, those components are not part of the Illinois School Code related to sexual health education, said Joy Messinger, deputy director of the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health.

“That piece is extremely important,” Messinger said. “We believe, and we know based on lots and lots of research, that abstinence-only until marriage education is ineffective, and it often presents an inaccurate view of sexual health.”

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Quick Hit
by Ellyn Fortino
5:31pm
Thu May 9
1 comment

IL Senate Committee Passes Legislation For State-based Health Insurance Exchange

The Illinois Senate Insurance Committee passed a measure Wednesday that looks to establish a state-run health insurance marketplace for small businesses and individuals as part of President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act of 2010.

Some health care and consumer advocates are pushing for a state-based insurance exchange, but questions still remain on how to make the marketplace the best it can be.

"We're walking into a new territory. We haven’t been here yet," said Brigid Leahy, director of legislative affairs at Planned Parenthood of Illinois. "But at least we know that if we're running things at the state level, we can fix things, we can make them better, we have better control over making sure that it works for consumers. If it’s in the hands of the feds, we don’t have that power." 

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Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
4:38pm
Tue Apr 9

Fellow 2nd Congressional District Candidates Have Strong Words For Robin Kelly

Fellow candidates in the race to fill the vacant seat in Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District had strong words for Democratic nominee Robin Kelly today, as the polls opened at 6 a.m. and voters are poised to cast their ballots throughout the day.

Republican candidate Paul McKinley called Kelly “insignificant.” Green Party candidate, LeAlan Jones, said she was a “puppet.” Independent candidate, Elizabeth Pahlke, questioned Kelly’s New York roots and suggested the people need a Chicago-native. Marcus Lewis, another Independent candidate, said voting in favor of Kelly was “essentially giving away your vote to an outside billionaire.”

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PI Original
by Ashlee Rezin
2:37pm
Wed Feb 20
3 comments

Gingrich, Axelrod Talk Politics, Demographics & The Future Of The Republican Party

Politics

In front of a more than 600-person audience, former speaker of the house and Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich sat down for a 90-minute conversation with former White House senior adviser, President Obama’s 2012 campaign manager, and new MSNBC correspondent David Axelrod at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics last night. Progress Illinois was there for the candid discussion.

Quick Hit
by Matthew Blake
4:14pm
Wed Oct 17, 2012

Presidential Candidates Pressed On Richer Variety Of Issues In Second Debate

In the second presidential debate, undecided voters asked the candidates questions on a range of important issues.

President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney were, for example, made to discuss outsourcing, which has been the central issue in Illinois’ 17th Congressional district race, and reproductive rights, which has emerged as a key issue in the 8th and 10th Congressional district contests.

There was also a clash on immigration policy and priorities, an issue ignored in the first debate, which mostly focused on fiscal policy.

At one point, President Barack Obama argued that, while obviously restrained by Congress and changing circumstances, a president mainly tries to do what they say they will do in their campaign. Read more »

PI Original
by Jon Graef
3:43pm
Tue Oct 16, 2012

Undecided Voters On The Minds Of Candidates In Tight 13th Congressional District Race

Election 2012

In Illinois’ 13th Congressional District Race, one of the closest in the state, a recent poll of 400 likely voters found Republican Rodney Davis and Democrat David Gill to be one percentage point apart, just weeks before the November 6 election. We offer a closer look at the race.

Quick Hit
by Ellyn Fortino
10:53am
Mon Oct 1, 2012

Schneider Looks To Labor Voters For Help In Defeating Dold

Union members’ votes in the general election may make or break whether Democrats take back control of the House of Representatives, U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-9) said at a labor rally in Lincolnshire Saturday morning.

Dozens of organized workers in Illinois’ 10th congressional district met with Schakowsky for a pep talk in support of Democrat candidate Brad Schneider, who’s looking to defeat first-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Bob Dold (R), before they branched off for a door-to-door canvas of fellow union members in the area.

“We cannot win this race, and we can’t save our country, without organized labor,” Schakowsky said at the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America’s Region 4 office.

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Quick Hit
by Matthew Blake
2:50pm
Thu Aug 23, 2012

Walsh Veers His Own Way, Partly Defends Akin

In a debate before the Chicago Tribune editorial board last Thursday, U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh (R-McHenry) suggested that he might rein in some of the outlandish remarks that have characterized his campaign. Walsh acknowledged that he got a “little ahead of myself with my language” and needed to balance “straight talk and responsible talk.”

The 8th district lawmaker stated earlier this month that “radical Muslims” are “trying to kill Americans every week.” And in July, Walsh suggested that his Democratic opponent Tammy Duckworth was not a true hero because she made frequent reference to her military record. Duckworth lost both her legs in the Iraq War.

Walsh has not said anything quite so provocative over the last few days. But there are new signs that the freshmen incumbent is adrift from his own party, including on what should be done about U.S. Rep. Todd Akin (R-Missouri). Read more »