Is Hinsdale's Greg Hart Pro-Choice?

HINSDALE, IL – The Republican candidate for DuPage County Board chairman is coming under attack by a pro-life group.

The Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League alleges that Greg Hart of Hinsdale shifted from pro-life to pro-choice in his latest campaign.

In 2018, Illinois Right to Life Action listed Hart as a pro-life candidate for County Board. Hart won.

Earlier this month, the Hart campaign released a video of his wife, Alex Hart. In the video, she said, "As DuPage chairman, Greg won't change our laws supporting a woman's right to choose, and he will always support women's health."

In a mailer titled "Protect women's rights," Alex Hart is quoted as saying that as the DuPage County Board chairman, her husband will "always protect women's rights and never restrict our right to choose."

The mailer was paid for by the Illinois Republican Party.

In an email, Patch asked Greg Hart whether he was pro-choice or pro-life.

He responded with wording similar to his wife's: "As County Board Chairman, I will not and cannot restrict a woman's right to choose, and I will always support women's health initiatives."

The Pro-Life Action League expressed its unhappiness with Hart on its website last week.

"Illinois pro-life voters are being thrown under the bus so that Greg Hart won’t have the smell of the pro-life position on him. But we won’t put up with it!" the group said.

The league also took issue with the GOP's involvement.

"That means the Illinois Republican Party is officially backing candidates in the very act of abandoning the pro-life position — even as our state is becoming the Abortion Capital of the United States!" the group said.

In an email to Patch, Greg Hart said the DuPage County Board chairman has no role in abortion. He said his Democratic opponent, Deb Conroy, is misleading voters by suggesting that the chairman can protect abortion rights.

He pointed to a WBBM interview in which Conroy said the county board chairman obviously has nothing to do with abortion.

In an email to Patch, Conroy said she was conscious of the fact that the chairman does not vote on state laws.

"My opponent sent out two mail pieces with his wife making statements on women's health care, following up with several mass texts and a YouTube video of her doubling down on the issue," Conroy said. "It was after my opponent went out on the issue that we communicated to voters the work I have actually done to fight to protect women's rights. I’m not sure why team Hart decided to make this their first priority in terms of communicating to voters."