Democratic Rep. Dianne Pappas under fire for castration remark on abortion bill

ITASCA (Heartland Newsfeed) — A Chicagoland area legislator is under fire following recent comments she made about abortion and the proposed House Bill 2495, penned the Reproductive Health Act.

State Rep. Dianne Pappas (D-Itasca) has gone silent and has not returned repeated messages from regional outlets, including the DuPage Policy Journal, in the wake of a Wayne Township Republican trustee who revealed Pappas proposed “castration” to remedy the abortion issue as well as the bill, which could make Illinois home to the least restrictive abortion access in the nation.

The trustee, Jackie Hayden, released an op-ed Tuesday, which reveals her concerns about the bill as well as Pappas’ recent remarks with constituents regarding the bill inside her legislative office in Bloomingdale.

Pappas stated the following, recalling a recent meeting with Hayden and others inside her Bloomingdale office:

You know, ladies, with technology the way it is, we wouldn’t have an abortion problem if we applied a plan. Now, I’ve been told it’s a bit radical, but if we allowed men to be castrated, took the sperm to the bank, collected tax dollars on it for storage, then when it’s time, to have the man decide he’s ready to begin a family….well, then [the] problem is solved.

Hayden stated in the release she has every reason to believe what Pappas meant to say when she was contacted by a member of the Holy Ghost Parish, insisting that the freshman lawmaker made similar comments during a recent meeting Pappas held with her group.

The anonymous source Hayden refers to stated that similar remarks were made when members of the church were in Springfield a couple weeks ago and seriously wondered if Pappas made the same remarks to them.

According to various reports, Pappas is a known subscriber to a publication called Feminist Current, who wrote a June 2017 profile on a playwright who opened an off-Broadway production telling the story of five women targeting known rapists for castration.

Hayden noted that her pro-life supporter group tried to keep politics out of their meeting with Pappas, but realized she was not changing her mind given her bottom-line position.

“Thinking back on this, and seeing the faces of the women who were with me, didn’t leave me speechless but agitated,” Hayden added in the release. “Anything bipartisan, just went out the door with that comment.”

Hayden also mentioned Pappas’ insistence that debating the bill was a moot issue because “the legislation was dead” and “wouldn’t be up for review for at least another year.”

As of March 29, the bill is in the Rules Committee awaiting assignment.

Hayden adds that Planned Parenthood has been pushing hard for the bill’s passage and that “Pappas feels there are more important bills at stake”, including the proposed progressive tax being pushed by Gov. JB Pritzker, the full legalization of marijuana and more funding for education. She also maintains the incident has her motivated to fight against the bill.

“We will be organizing again shortly,” she wrote. “Personal PAC is going to hold a pro choice event May 1 in Springfield. If you are as outraged by this event as we were, keep your eye out for more information. It is important for us to keep up the pressure on those who were elected to represent us.”