If one legislator gets his way, Illinois would be the next state to pass what animal-rights activists have nick-named the "Ag-Gag" bill.
It would limit who is allowed to film or record the treatment of animals at farms and livestock facilities.
The videos are striking: Pigs and cows in tiny cramped pens ... chickens with their beaks cut off.
One video shows a calf being born, and then immediately dragged through mud, away from its mother.
Ann Church, with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, says the videos are vital tools meant to expose the practices on what they call "factory farms."
"The videos leave no doubt in the mind of the people who see them that animal abuse does take place in these facilities."
But Representative Jim Sacia wants to ban recording at a farm or livestock facility without the owner's permission. Sacia is a Republican from Winnebago County who grew up on a farm.
"I don't want to see animals crowded into areas that they shouldn't be crowded into, but farmers understand best."
Iowa recently enacted a similar ban.
Activists were jubilant last week when Sacia tabled his measure in the Illinois House, but he says he'll continue to push his proposal.
