TMS WEEKLY DISPATCH 8/25/25
Here’s the latest news from the past week at Thomas More Society, in our legal battles defending life, family, and freedom.
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Welcome to the TMS Weekly Dispatch for August 25, 2025—with the latest news and updates from the front line, to keep you in-the-know on all things Thomas More Society. If you missed last week’s edition, you can read it here.
Here's a look back at the past week:
LEGISLATIVE SPOTLIGHT — DISPENSING DEATH ON CAMPUS: On August 22, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed H.B. 3709 into law, requiring all public colleges and universities in the state to make chemical abortion pills and contraception available to students. Illinois is the first state in the Midwest to enact such a law.
Although Planned Parenthood’s physical locations are closing across the United States, abortion is on the rise as the abortion pill becomes the primary means of ending unborn life—with 63% of abortions committed via the chemical abortion regimen.
According to the CDC, women in their 20s already account for over half of abortions in the U.S. As educational standards and proficiency decline, Illinois public colleges are will now put valuable funds and resources towards abortion, rather than allocating them towards supporting pregnant and parenting students on campus with accommodations, material support, parenting communities, and childcare options. Meanwhile, the abortion lobby is recklessly pushing college-aged women to self-manage dangerous chemical abortion regimens in their dorm room and communal bathrooms, all while seeking to deprive them of the science-backed Abortion Pill Reversal treatment should they experience regret after taking the first abortion pill, mifepristone.
That’s why Thomas More Society is committed to defending and amplifying the lifesaving outreach of pregnancy resource centers across Illinois. These nonprofits ministries offer material resources, counseling, shelter, adoption support, and more that can empower young women experiencing unexpected pregnancies to choose life for their baby. Learn more about how TMS defends pregnancy centers in Illinois:
- Schroeder v. Treto, Jr. – Ongoing
- Abigail v. Pritzker – Ongoing
As the abortion pill becomes the main method of abortion, Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) is increasingly necessary. Unsurprisingly, this life-saving treatment has faced legal attack from pro-abortion forces that wrongly smear it as “deceptive.” Across the country, TMS attorneys are also defending APR against lawfare from state AGs like California’s Rob Bonta and New York’s Letitia James, to ensure women who regret taking the abortion pill have a second chance to choose life. Learn more about these cases below:
THIS WEEK — TMS IN COURT AGAINST LAND OF LINCOLN’S ABORTION COVERAGE MANDATE: On August 26, TMS attorneys will appear in the Fourth District of the Illinois Appellate Court to defend the religious freedom of the Illinois Baptist State Association (IBSA) in a legal challenge to the state’s mandate requiring all health insurance providers to include abortion coverage in their plans.
Thomas More Society filed a lawsuit on behalf of IBSA in 2020 after Illinois legislators passed the “Reproductive Health Act,” which compelled faith-based employers to choose between violating their core beliefs about the sanctity of life or dropping health coverage for their employees altogether.
“Our clients are not asking for special treatment, they are asking for the freedom to live and work consistent with their faith,” explains Matt Belz, TMS Special Counsel. “The State of Illinois should not be in the business of coercing people of faith into paying for abortion, in violation of their deepest moral convictions.”
