The DuPage County courthouse will no longer bear the name of the late U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde.
The DuPage County Board voted 10-5 at its Tuesday meeting to remove the Republican congressman’s name from the building and related offices in Wheaton.
While Democrats and Republicans voted along party lines on the issue, Democrats Lynn LaPlante and Lucy Chang Evans abstained from the vote and expressed disappointment that the matter was raised.
The courthouse will now be known as the DuPage County Judicial Office Facility.
“Here in DuPage County, public buildings serve all people, regardless of race, gender, faith or … economic status,” board Chair Deb Conroy, a Democrat from Elmhurst, said ahead the vote. “This resolution reinforces the notion that the buildings on this campus support the rights of all people to receive the services they need. … I believe our actions should reflect our values.”
Hyde, who was a Wood Dale Republican and staunch abortion opponent, is the namesake of the Hyde Amendment, a law that took effect in 1980 banning the use of federal funds to pay for abortion, except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the woman giving birth.
Hyde represented parts of DuPage County in the House of Representatives from 1975 until 2007 and in the Illinois House for nearly a decade prior to that.
He died in 2007 at age 83. Three years after his death, the DuPage County Board — which at the time had a 15-3 Republican majority — voted to name its courthouse building at 505 N. County Farm Road in Wheaton the Henry J. Hyde Judicial Office Facility. The board’s 2010 resolution also called for the eventual installation of a privately funded monument to Hyde outside the courthouse.
The board’s vote followed several personal pleas from friends, family and supporters of Hyde’s asking members to refrain from moving forward with the name change.
Anthony Hyde, Hyde’s son who lives in North Aurora, said his father was his hero.
“No matter how you vote today, nothing will ever change that,” he said. “The chair and others in this room have stated the reason you want to remove his name from the judicial center is because of his position on abortion and, in particular, the Hyde Amendment. … Believe me when I say I can empathize with your position.
“But also understand that my father was more than just a one-note politician. My father was a statesman for this country. He advocated for those in need locally, nationally and globally.”
Public comment totaled 30 minutes. The board voted 10-8 against extending the public comment period by another half hour.
The Chicago Tribune’s Bob Goldsborough contributed.
tkenny@chicagotribune.com