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House Bill 3326 limits other states' ability to access automatic
license plate reader data in Illinois to punish someone from out
of state seeking an abortion in Illinois.
Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias spearheaded the measure and
said during a June news conference that Illinois is leading the
charge in abortion rights.
"I
could not be more proud of this landmark legislation. No other
state in America specifically prohibits ALPRs from being used to
track and penalize individuals for their actions in another
state," Giannoulias said.
The measure did receive pushback from Republican lawmakers
during the spring legislative session as state Sen. Jil Tracy,
R-Quincy, had concerns about the safety of shutting off these
cameras for those seeking abortions.
"Under this law, a minor girl from Missouri could be brought to
Illinois by her abuser to undergo an abortion, and that license
plate data couldn't be used to bring him to justice," Tracy
said. "We're going to perhaps make this too broad and allow a
true perpetrator and an abuser to go free and avoid
prosecution."
As the plate readers are used primarily to track crimes and help
locate suspects, Giannoulias said they must ensure that they are
utilizing the cameras correctly.
"Make no mistake, ALPRs are an important tool for law
enforcement, especially when apprehending suspects in violent
crimes or recovering stolen vehicles in carjackings,"
Giannoulias said. "We need to regulate these cameras so they are
not being used for surveillance and tracking the data of
innocent people."
The law also restricts the use of automatic license plate
readers to check someone's immigration status.
Illinois becomes the first state in the nation to adopt such a
law and has some of the least restrictive abortion laws in the
nation.
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