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In Wake of Horrific Roe Decision, GOP Candidates for Governor Double Down on Extremist, Anti-Choice Views

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In the wake of the horrific Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the Republican gubernatorial candidates are doubling down on their dangerous anti-choice views.

Far-right frontrunner Darren Bailey, who has touted endorsements from “every pro-life and pro-family organization in the state of Illinois,” this morning reiterated his harmful anti-choice views. Bailey has a long record of attacking reproductive rights, and was a loud anti-choice voice and voted against defending Roe as a state representative.

In a video posted to Jesse Sullivan’s social media accounts with the caption “God is good,” he holds a baby, saying: “We have a governor that not only taxes us to death, he taxes us to murder unborn children.” The day the draft opinion was published, Sullivan tweeted that he and his family “dropped to our knees and said a prayer as a family in gratitude for all the lives that will be saved. And then we said the pledge of allegiance.”

Failed one-time frontrunner Richard Irvin, who has so far refused to comment on the critical issue, tweeted a vague statement calling himself a “pro-life Republican” and highlighting the fact that with a Democratic Gov. Pritzker, reproductive rights continue to be protected in the state. Irvin’s cowardice in the face of one of the most monumental Supreme Court decisions in the last fifty years proves he is unfit to serve the state of Illinois.

Gary Rabine credited Donald Trump for the decision, tweeting: “Thanks to President Trump for appointing conservative Justices that finally ended 50 years of abortion in the United States.”

“With their dangerous, extremist rhetoric, the Republican candidates for governor continue to be completely out-of-touch with Illinoisans across the state,” said DGA Illinois Press Secretary Yael Sheinfeld. “This devastating SCOTUS decision has left Democratic governors like Gov. Pritzker as the last line of defense to protect women’s access to safe, legal reproductive care. Voters will remember that at the ballot box.”