CCI Executive Director Robert Gilligan is joined by Illinois Catholic Health Association's Patrick Cacchione to address the controversy over Senate Bill 1564, which the governor recently signed into law. The new law, which modifies Illinois’ Health Care Right of Conscience Act, takes effect Jan. 1. CCI and ICHA took a neutral stance on the legislation, after negotiating a less harmful version of the legislation. Next, Sister Ann Scholz, SSND, Associate Director for Social Mission of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, talks about the letter the organization sent today to the presidential candidates, their running mates, and their party chairs asking for civil discourse as we approach the Nov. 8 election. Nearly 5,700 Catholic Sisters across the nation signed the letter. Then, Jim Ennis, executive director of Catholic Rural Life, offers a Catholic perspective on a recent 4-part investigative series the Chicago Tribune produced on mega-hog farms in downstate Illinois. The stories touch on abuse to the animals, abuse to the environment, abuse to nearby neighbors because of the overwhelming stench, and the hard-scrabble life of contract farmers who raise the hogs for a small, set price. Next, Bryant Jackson-Green of the Illinois Policy Institute talks about a recent public opinion poll commissioned by IPI that shows the public wants bold reform of the state’s criminal justice system. Finally, Pat Shehorn, a board member of Aid for Women, a crisis pregnancy center with several offices in the Chicagoland area, talks about the organization’s annual dinner on Wed., Sept. 21 at the Union League Club. The keynote speaker will be Jim Towey, president of Ave Maria University, and legal counsel and close friend of Mother Teresa, who will be canonized on Sept. 4.
