Nationally, Democrats are in complete disarray as their propped-up octogenarian candidate for President implodes in the polls, and the trend on his electability in November goes from bad to worse.
They have problems on every issue that voters care about – the economy, illegal immigration, and national security. They have division in their own ranks among a number of constituencies, from young couples who can’t buy affordable housing to antisemitic radicals that are showcasing their intolerance on college campuses for all to see and for which common sense Americans want no part.
So, in the wake of these national concerns and despite having super-majorities in the state legislature, the Illinois Democrats are taking no chances that any member can be picked off and are attempting to increase turnout by filing last-minute legislation to protect themselves.
On Wednesday, Democrats gutted legislation that had already passed the Senate unanimously that dealt with child welfare and replaced it with language that does not allow political parties to slate candidates in legislative districts in which they did not find a candidate to run in the primary election and added three advisory questions to the 2024 Illinois general election ballot. From gut and replace to the governor’s signature on SB2412, it took them less than 48 hours. The timeline and process were anything but democratic.
While political parties should recruit candidates to run in primaries, it is often that candidates do not arise until later in the process. Slating has been going on for decades, and if the Democrats wanted to change it, they could have done so as part of the normal legislative process and not a month before the slating deadline in the middle of an election cycle.
Most telling, though, was the three advisory questions they added to the ballot via legislation. The Democrats knew the Parents Matter Coalition, of which I am a co-founder, was working hard to put an advisory question on the ballot about parents’ rights. Worried that we would put this question to the electorate and drive-up turnout among our base of commonsense Illinoisans, they pre-emptively blocked us by filing their three questions ahead of the deadline and crowding out our question. Only three referendum questions are allowed on the ballot in any single election.
What are they afraid of?
They know most people would agree that parents are and should be the arbiters of their minor child’s health decisions. They know our schools are grooming kids in the transgender ideology without parental consent. The Democrats know that they have let the radicals in their party push these policies without the electorate knowing. And they know once we wake-up people to policies they have passed against parents, that voters will reject them at the ballot box. They are cowards and, quite frankly, a party that is morally bankrupt and unrecognizable from the moral foundation on which this nation was built.
Our fight has just begun. We’re not backing down.
HERE IS THE PRESS RELEASE FROM TODAY
RELEASE DATE:
May 3, 2024
PARENTS MATTER COALITION RESPONDS TO BEING BLOCKED FROM 2024 ELECTION DAY BALLOT BY DEMOCRATIC SUPERMAJORITY’S ELEVENTH-HOUR ACTION
(CHICAGO, IL) – On the morning of Friday, May 3, 2024 – three days before the filing deadline for ballot initiatives in Illinois – Governor Pritzker signed SB 2412, a bill that was passed through both legislative chambers in a 48-hour period this week which will block Parents Matter Coalition’s advisory initiative from appearing on the November ballot.
SB 2412 will add three advisory questions that were written and chosen by the Democratic supermajority in the Illinois State Legislature to the ballot on Election Day. According to Illinois State Code, only three advisory questions may appear on the ballot. This means that the Parents Matter Coalition’s popular advisory question is now ineligible.
Parents Matter Coalition was conceived in October of 2023 for the purpose of pushing back against the diminishment of parents’ rights in Illinois schools and in medical decisions for their minor children. PMC’s first major effort was the ‘Right to Parent’ ballot initiative, which would have placed an advisory question on the 2024 ballot concerning parents’ right to be involved in minors’ medical decisions, particularly with reference to gender transition treatments and abortion.
“This was pointed and intentional,” said Jeanne Ives, co-founder of Parents Matter Coalition. “Democratic legislators were so threatened by this grassroots citizen initiative that they didn’t even wait for us to file our signatures. They squashed this effort despite widespread support from Illinois parents. This is an incredibly undemocratic way to defeat an electorate you oppose.”
“Once again, Illinois Democrats illustrate in plain sight their brazenly corrupt approach to policymaking,” said Mary Kate Zander, spokesperson for Parents Matter Coalition and executive director of Illinois Right to Life, a supporting organization. “This is not the first time they’ve skirted the process to undermine constituents. In fact, they’ve made a habit of fly-by-night legislating when it comes to issues like abortion and protections for minors.”
Parents Matter Coalition will hold a press conference on Monday, May 6 at 10AM to respond to the legislature’s late action. The press conference will be held at Libreria Cristiana Vids Nueva, 2909 N. Central Ave. Chicago, IL and will feature supporters of the ‘Right to Parent’ initiative who emigrated to the U.S. from socialist countries.
For more information, go to parentsmattercoalition.org or send an email to info@parentsmattercoalition.org.