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 The bill, approved by the state legislature in May, would also keep
abortions legal in Illinois if the U.S. Supreme Court follows
President Donald Trump's call to overturn its landmark Roe v. Wade
ruling that made abortions legal 44 years ago.
Illinois' Medicaid program has previously covered abortions in cases
of rape, incest and when a mother's life or health is threatened.
The expansion would enable poor women to obtain elective abortions.
The bill would allow state employees to have the procedures covered
under state health insurance.
Rauner, who had earlier suggested he would veto the measure, said in
a statement that he had talked to woman around the state before
making his decision.
"I understand abortion is a very emotional issue with passionate
opinions on both sides. I sincerely respect those who believe
abortion is morally wrong," he said.
"But, as I have always said, I believe a woman should have the right
to make that choice herself and I do not believe that choice should
be determined by income," Rauner added. "I do not think it's fair to
deny poor women the choice that wealthy women have."
The decision comes as conservative legislatures and other Republican
governors have sought in recent years to tighten regulations on
abortion clinics and forced closures in states such as Texas and
Kentucky.
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The move by Rauner upset conservatives.
"Taxpayers should not be forced to fund something as controversial
and culturally divisive as abortions," Republican state Senator Dan
McConchie told the Chicago Tribune.
Currently, 15 other states allow Medicaid to pay for abortion,
including some required by courts, according to the Kaiser Family
Foundation.
But Illinois is the first state in decades to voluntarily lift its
restriction on Medicaid coverage of abortion, according to National
Asian Pacific American Women's Forum.
"Under the Trump administration, we are potentially facing the
greatest threat to reproductive rights in more than a generation. HB
40 ensures that abortion will remain legal in Illinois, regardless
of what happens at the federal level," the forum's executive
director, Sung Yeon Choimorrow, said in a statement.
(Reporting by Chris Kenning; Editing by Diane Craft)
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