Illinois further expands reproductive health care protections

[August 08, 2024]  By DILPREET RAJU
Capitol News Illinois
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Gov. JB Pritzker signed multiple bills expanding reproductive rights in Illinois on Wednesday, including codifying a federal law that allows medical professionals to perform an abortion in response to a clinical emergency.

Another bill bolsters Illinois’ interstate shield law that prohibits Illinois authorities from disclosing information, or using resources, to abet any interstate investigation into someone receiving abortion services within Illinois. The final bill signed prohibits discrimination against people for their reproductive health decisions, including abortion, in vitro fertilization and fertility treatment.

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade, states have had greater authority to curtail abortion access. States with Democratic majorities, like Illinois, have sought to enact more protections for abortion and other reproductive health services, while Republican-led states have moved to impose bans or limitations on the procedure.

One federal law Illinois lawmakers sought to codify in case it is struck down is the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA, which allows practitioners to perform abortions in medical emergencies. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case against EMTALA in June, although it could come back before the high court once it advances further in the lower courts.

Pritzker at the time called the high court’s decision a “small respite,” but he said it was also important to be proactive as a state in case of any further U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

“We can't wait around and be reactive when the latest attacks come, the pro-choice majority in this country need to be proactive,” Pritzker said. “The three bills that I am signing today send a single, straightforward message: Illinois will always be a place where women have the freedom to make their own medical decisions.”

Chief sponsor of the EMTALA-codification bill, Rep. Dagmara Avelar, D-Bolingbrook, said the realities of medical emergencies are distant from the clashes of partisan politics.

“We recognize that a medical emergency like this knows no politics,” Avelar said. “A person in crisis deserves care, not controversy.”

The bill also allows the Department of Public Health to investigate potential violations where medical practitioners fail to provide “stabilizing treatment” and issue fines at a minimum of $50,000.

Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton speaks at a bill signing ceremony for three measures aimed at protecting access to reproductive health care in Illinois. (Credit: Illinois.gov)

Dr. Allison Cowett, medical director at Family Planning Associates Medical Group in Chicago, said her clinic is seeing more than double the number of out-of-state patients as compared to 2022.

“I will take care of patients from as close by as our West Loop neighborhood and as far away as Texas, border towns and the southern part of Florida,” she said.

Cowett maligned the situation for people experiencing unsafe or unwanted pregnancies in states where abortion is illegal.

“Some patients share their stories with me, they share their rage about what forced them to come to Illinois for basic medical care,” she said. “They were turned away because providers are afraid of criminalization and prosecution for even discussing abortion with a patient. This is not what health care is supposed to be.”

Attorney General Kwame Raoul said Illinois’ protections will help people in nearby states that have enacted abortion restrictions.

“We have Indiana with a near abortion ban – near-total abortion ban, Missouri banning abortions without exception for rape and incest, Kentucky the same, and Iowa’s recently enacted six-week ban,” Raoul said. “That is horrific, but it lifts us up as a safe haven.”

Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton said the laws passed are about expanding the state’s ability to take in more people seeking reproductive health care.

“Today is both beautiful and dumbfounding. As Gov. Pritzker protects doctors and empowers Illinois families, the governor of Iowa just signed a fetal heartbeat bill that will push Iowans into our home for health,” Stratton said, also adding, “We have to stretch our capacity to provide care, not just for the women of Illinois, but for all women in the Midwest and beyond.”

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.