Legislative Action
Public Aid's
emergency rule
on abortion
stirs lawmakers
to quick review
By JENNIFER HALPERIN One must be wary of stepping on lawmakers' toes — and egos — when it comes to controversial issues. The state's Department of Public Aid got such a lesson this summer when some lawmakers felt the agency overstepped its boundaries and invaded their legislative turf. What happened was this: The public aid department issued an emergency rule calling for Medicaid funding of abortions for victims of rape or incest. Before the July 1 rule was put in place, Medicaid paid for abortions in Illinois only if a mother's life was in danger. Medicaid provides health insurance for poor people, and is funded with state and federal money. The rule was enacted in response to a mandate issued by the federal government. Last year, the federal law that restricts federal funding for abortions was loosened to allow Medicaid-funded abortions for rape and incest victims. If the mandate is ignored, some say, the state could end up losing federal Medicaid money. But partly because the subject is public funding for abortion — always capable of getting a rise out of public officials — some lawmakers want to bring the matter to the state General Assembly, either during the fall veto session or next spring. They don't like the idea of a state agency setting such a policy. They think elected representatives should make such decisions. Lawmakers who sit on the state's Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (known as JCAR) can vote to overturn an agency's rule, like this one, and send it to the full legislature for consideration. But when the committee met in July, opponents of the rule fell one vote short of the eight needed to overturn it. "We were frustrated by two things," said Sen. Steven Rauschenberger (R-33, Elgin), who sits on JCAR. "Number one, the Department of Public Aid's arrogance in deciding to make this policy. And number two, issuing it as an emergency rule without the 90-day review process." Emergency rules are not subject to the 90 days of public comment that agency rules and regulations generally warrant. Since three JCAR members were absent from the committee's July meeting, Rauschenberger said he feels the rule could be overturned if it's considered again. JCAR members meet on the second Tuesday of every month. At the August 16 meeting, the committee decided to postpone consideration of the rule until its next meeting, scheduled for September 13. State law now precludes state funding for abortion in Illinois in any case unless a mother's life is in danger. Even though federal policy has changed, Rauschenberger doesn't feel Illinois needs to be in any hurry to conform. "To me, this feels like the Department of Public Aid is saying, 'Some second- tier federal bureaucrat sent us a letter, so we're gonna change policy,'" he said. "I don't have an honest sense of public anger over public funding of abortions in cases of rape and incest, but my guess is people are going to be frustrated enough that this will be coming up. I mean, allegedly you only have to check a box saying this was rape or incest. To some, that smacks of abortion on demand at the public's expense." Actually, the process involves more than just checking a box, according to Dean Schott, spokesman for the public aid department. A patient is required to tell her doctor if her pregnancy resulted from rape or incest, and a doctor is required to note this information on a Medicaid claim form. Although the issue of publicly funded abortion is itself a controversial matter, lawmakers' arguments for and against this particular policy change also are rooted in whether the state must hurry to comply with federal mandates."I think it'll become a legislative issue in the spring, but it's going nowhere," said Sen. Judy Baar Topinka (R-22, North Riverside). "It's going to be nothing but political rhetoric. And I appreciate that — people start in with political rhetoric on anything that has to do with abortion. But I don't think there is a choice for the state. I think legislators will just try to make this an issue to use for political advantage. People in other states have done their war dances over it and it hasn't done any good. One way or another it ought to be faced up to." Topinka pointed to a case in Michigan where a federal judge threw out a state law that restricted Medicaid funding of abortions to cases where the mother's life was in danger. In the end, she said, this will be a battle over nothing. "This rule is much stronger on paper than in reality," she said. It's minimal at best in terms of the number of people affected — it's estimated about 30 women would be affected. But smaller things than this have been blown into big deals; so we shouldn't be surprised." Rauschenberger isn't convinced dire consequences will befall Illinois if it fails to comply. "In my opinion, we certainly do have a choice," he said. "The federal government has yet to withhold the first dollar of Medicaid money anywhere in the United States. If we don't some day call the federal government's bluff on all these mandates, they'll keep running right over us. "Let them send the troops in. Let them arrest the General Assembly. We use the federal government as an excuse not to do anything." Veto session calendar Here is a calendar of the next scheduled sessions of the Illinois General Assembly:
Nov. 10: Perfunctory session Septemberl994/Illinois Issues/29
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