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House Bill 3637, sponsored by state Rep. Dagmara Avelar,
D-Bolingbrook, would allow abortion pills to be prescribed in
Illinois, even if the Food and Drug Administration determines
that the pills are unsafe.
The measure cleared the state Senate by a vote of 38-19 Thursday
afternoon with an amendment and must be sent back to the House
for concurrence before it can be sent to the governor.
State Sen. Karina Villa, D-West Chicago, was the bill’s chief
sponsor in the Senate.
“If the World Health Organization, or WHO, still recommends a
drug, it can still be prescribed and dispensed in the scenario
that the FDA revokes them,” Villa said.
Sen. Jil Tracy, R-Quincy, voted against the bill.
“To depend on the World Health Organization, whose highest
contributors and funding come from China, just seems very
illogical to me in something dealing with people’s health,”
Tracy said.
State Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, urged colleagues to vote, “No.”
“The problem that I have with the bill is that this is setting
precedents. This clearly has not happened anywhere else in the
country, where we’re asking the World Health Organization, which
we’re not sure will be in existence in a year or could be
considered political, to be able to supersede the FDA,” Rezin
said.
Rezin asked Villa if there were other states where the WHO
supersedes the FDA in terms of drug approval.
“I can get back to you,” Villa answered.
HB 3637 would also protect medical providers who lose their
licenses in other states, as long as their conduct was not
unlawful in Illinois.
State Rep. Bill Hauter, R-Morton, practices emergency medicine
and anesthesiology in Peoria. Speaking on the House floor last
month, Hauter said there should be safety when it comes to
abortion.
“We have to stop this sort of breaking down all of the safety
mechanisms we have around abortion. There has to be some safety
mechanisms, whether it be in the abortion clinic or with
abortion mechanisms,” Hauter said. “Do not reject the authority
of the U.S. federal Drug Administration. This is an important
safety mechanism. This bill would reject that. This is
unprecedented in my mind.”
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