SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) â Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner has clashed with Illinois Democrats on big issues like the state budget during his first term in office. But he recently he bucked the party line on legislation the GOP has fervently opposed: Expanding birth control coverage and access to abortions.
Not a single Republican voted in favor of either bill, but Rauner signed both measures last week in a move that angered conservative groups and surprised some legislators in his party.
One of bills extends insurance coverage for nearly all contraceptives and the other requires physicians who refuse to perform abortions or other health care services for moral and religious reasons to provide information to patients on where they can go instead.
The head of the Illinois Family Institute called him a traitor after the bill signings.