Schroeder, et al. v. Treto, Jr.

Thomas More Society is defending the conscience rights of pro-life physicians and pregnancy help centers against an Illinois law that forces them to participate in abortion referral and promotion—in direct violation of their deeply held moral and religious convictions.

In 2016, Illinois passed Senate Bill 1564, amending the state's Health Care Right of Conscience Act (HCRCA) to require healthcare providers to discuss the so-called "benefits" of abortion and, upon request, refer clients to abortion providers—or lose the legal protections the HCRCA was originally designed to guarantee. SB 1564 turned a conscience-protection statute into a weapon against the very people it was created to protect.

Thomas More Society filed suit on March 16, 2017, on behalf of Illinois pro-life pregnancy centers and a pro-life physician. The case was consolidated with a parallel lawsuit, National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Treto, Jr. In July 2017, a federal judge issued a statewide preliminary injunction against enforcement of SB 1564 in the NIFLA case—protection that remained in place for nearly a decade prior to final judgment.

Following a three-day bench trial in September 2023, Judge Iain D. Johnston issued a split decision on April 4, 2025. The Court permanently struck down the mandate compelling discussion of the "benefits of abortion" as unconstitutional compelled speech. However, the Court upheld the abortion referral mandate, even while acknowledging that pro-life physicians and pregnancy centers "are required to effectively endorse a course of conduct they find morally abhorrent." The Court also found no evidence supporting the State's claim that the health of women was in grave peril absent the challenged amendments.

Thomas More Society appealed the referral mandate to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on April 9, 2025, and filed its consolidated opening brief on May 28, 2025. The district court stayed the referral mandate pending appeal. The State has cross-appealed, seeking reinstatement of the compelled speech provision that was struck down.

On January 21, 2026, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights issued a Notice of Violation in direct response to complaints Thomas More Society filed in 2018, concluding that SB 1564 violates the federal Coats-Snowe and Weldon Amendments—statutes that prohibit government entities receiving federal funds from coercing healthcare professionals into referring for or facilitating abortions. HHS directed Illinois to comply within 30 days or face potential loss of federal healthcare funding.

Thomas More Society continues to fight to ensure that pro-life physicians and pregnancy centers can serve women and children in accordance with their faith and conscience, free from government coercion.