Pritzker to call special session on reproductive rights

Pritzker to call special session on reproductive rights

By PETER HANCOCK
Capitol News Illinois
phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker will call a special session of the General Assembly in the coming weeks to focus on legislation to strengthen women’s access to abortion and other reproductive health services in Illinois.

Pritzker made that announcement Friday, just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court released an opinion overturning the landmark 1973 abortion rights case Roe v. Wade.

“We knew this day was coming,” Pritzker said at a hastily called news conference in Chicago. “The extremists on the Supreme Court have made an abhorrent decision, one rooted in partisanship, leaving an indelible stain on our nation.”

Pritzker had already been scheduled to hold a news conference Friday to highlight legislation he signed recently expanding access to medication that protects against HIV infection. But the Supreme Court’s decision, released shortly after 9 a.m., upended those plans and set off a flurry of reaction, both for and against the ruling.

“Today, Illinois Right to Life joins millions of Americans in celebrating the end of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that has denied over 63 million preborn children their most fundamental right: life,” the Illinois Right to Life organization said in a statement. “With today’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, states have regained the ability to protect preborn children and their mothers.”

Attorney General Kwame Raoul criticized the decision in a statement.

“I am extremely disappointed with today’s Supreme Court decision, which jeopardizes the health, the safety and the lives of millions of women in the United States – especially those who already have the least access to health care and other resources,” he said. “This single decision rolls back 50 years of court precedent and with it, decades of progress toward reproductive autonomy.”

Illinois is among the states with laws already on the books protecting access to abortion. In 2018, the state adopted a law allowing public funding of abortion through its Medicaid program. And in 2019, lawmakers passed the sweeping Reproductive Health Act which, among other things, enshrines abortion access as a “fundamental right” in Illinois law.

Finally, during last year’s veto session, lawmakers passed a bill repealing the state’s Parental Notice of Abortion law, removing the last legal restriction on abortion in Illinois.

Friday’s Supreme Court decision will have no effect on those laws. In fact, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in a concurring opinion, specifically pointed to Illinois and other states as being unaffected by the decision.

“Today’s decision therefore does not prevent the numerous States that readily allow abortion from continuing to readily allow abortion,” he wrote. “That includes, if they choose, the (friend of the court) States supporting the plaintiff in this Court: New York, California, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii.”

But Illinois’ laws stand in stark contrast to those of some neighboring states that already had so-called “trigger laws” on the books that would either ban or severely restrict access to abortion upon reversal of Roe v. Wade.

“Let me make this explicit and clear to women throughout our state, throughout the Midwest and our nation – Illinois will be a safe haven for the exercise of your reproductive rights,” Pritzker said. “In Illinois, Roe v. Wade is still the law and it will remain the law as long as we have a pro-choice legislature and a pro-choice governor.”

It wasn’t immediately clear what types of legislation lawmakers would pursue in a special session.

One that is likely to come up, though, is House Bill 1464, which prohibits state regulators from revoking or suspending the license of a health care provider solely because they were sanctioned in another state for performing abortions. That measure passed the House this year but requires action in the state Senate.

Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie, of Hawthorn Woods, suggested in a news release that Democrats may also try to pass legislation to offer public funding for out-of-state residents to receive abortion services in Illinois.

“Right now, Illinoisans can already get an abortion in all nine months of pregnancy for any reason and use taxpayer dollars to pay for it. But that’s not enough,” he said. “Now, they want us to help pay for out-of-state residents to travel to Illinois to receive abortions and even allow non-physicians here to perform them.”

The Supreme Court’s decision is also certain to cause political fallout in Illinois because it came just four days before the state’s June 28 primary elections, and it is certain to be a top-tier issue going into the Nov. 8 general elections.

“For this primary on Tuesday and November’s general election, game on. This is on the ballot,” Sen. Christina Pacione-Zayas, D-Chicago, said at the news conference.

 

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government that is distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

Leave a Comment





Local News

Palos Hills young people sang their hearts out for karaoke night at a neighborhood coffee house. (Photo by Nuha Abdessalam)

Teens enjoy Green Hills karaoke party

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Nuha Abdessalam Palos Hills tweens and teens sang their hearts out for karaoke night at a neighborhood coffee house. Green Hills Library invited all tweens and teens for a karaoke night at Strange Brew Cafe on West 103rd Street and 87th Street on Feb. 22. Organized by Green Hill Library Youth Program…

Luis Garcia, of Oak Forest and the owner and chef of Cervantinos Authentic Mexican Restaurant #2, 12778 S. Harlem Ave., Palos Heights. (Photos by Kelly White)

Cervantinos Authentic Mexican Restaurant opens in Palos Heights

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Kelly White When choosing a location for his second business location, Luis Garcia knew he wanted it to be Palos Heights. “I absolutely love it here,” Luis Garcia, of Oak Forest and the owner and chef of Cervantinos Authentic Mexican Restaurant #2, said. “It’s a great area, nice clientele and I’m happy…

The corner of Crandall and Depot in Worth will be the future site of the Garden Center Services apartment complex. (Photo by Joe Boyle)

Worth Polar Plunge raises record amount

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Joe Boyle The FOP Worth Polar Plunge has been deemed a major success and local officials said the amount raised has set a new record. The annual event, sponsored by the Worth Police Department, took place in a large swimming pool that was put up in the parking lot of the Marrs-Meyer…

Kris Sumner, Youth Programming Librarian at Green Hills Public Library, is responsible for organizing the Eid Clothing Bazaar at the library, 10331 Interlochen Dr., Palos Hills. (Supplied photos)

Green Hills Public Library hosts Eid Clothing Drive

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Kelly White The Islamic calendar has two major holidays each year: Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan and celebrates an entire month of fasting, and Eid al-Adha, the festival of the sacrifice that occurs during the culmination of the Hajj pilgrimage season. It takes place two lunar months after Ramadan.…

big PoliceLights1

Police Blotter

Spread the love

Spread the loveCHICAGO RIDGE DUI Orlando De La Rosa, 32, of Berwyn, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol following a traffic stop at 2:29 a.m. March 8 in the 9200 block of South Harlem Avenue. Police said he failed field sobriety tests and refused to submit a breath sample. He was also…

Oak Lawn Mayor Terry Vorderer rides in the Fourth of July parade in 2022. (File photo)

Oak Lawn seeks participants for Fourth of July parade

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Joe Boyle It may be spring, but it is not too early to talk about a summer parade. The Oak Lawn Village Board approved a resolution Tuesday morning authorizing the submission of a permit request to the Illinois Department of Transportation for the 2024 Fourth of July Parade. The resolution approves the…

Veronica Shaw

Sandburg welcomes new associate principal of instruction

Spread the love

Spread the loveConsolidated High School District 230 Board of Education is welcoming Dr. Veronica Shaw to Carl Sandburg High School as its new Associate Principal of Instruction. She begins July 1 and replaces Anita Huffman who was recently appointed as District 230’s Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services. With ample education leadership experience, Shaw is currently…

Sheri Cannataro, of Cannataro Farms, demonstrates the gear she wears to extract honey from a bee hive for visitors who stopped by to see her products at the Hills Chamber of Commerce Business and Community Expo Saturday at Conrady Junior High School in Hickory Hills. (Photos by Joe Boyle)

Residents warm up to Hills Chamber Business Expo

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Joe Boyle Spring has arrived but winter continues to leave its calling card. However, that did not prevent the Hills Chamber of Commerce from holding its 10th annual Business and Community Expo Saturday at Conrady Junior High School in Hickory Hills. While the temperatures were frigid and windy outside, the spirit inside…

Palos Park Mayor Nicole Milovich-Walters speaks about zoning codes at the March 25 council meeting. (Photo by Jeff Vorva)

Palos Park to tweak outdated village zoning codes

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva The village of Palos Park has no grand plan to change the village landscape. But officials want to modernize some of its zoning codes. “The village has not comprehensively updated its development regulations since 1960,” Mayor Nicole Milovich-Walters said at the March 25 village council meeting. “Due to this, there…

Ridgeland sd122 logo

SD122 psychologist resigns over Islamophobic posts

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Nuha Abdessalam A psychologist for Ridgeland School District 122 has resigned after hundreds of parents demanded she be fired for social media posts that were pro-Israeli and anti-Palestinian. District Supt. Joseph Matise announced at a schoolboard meeting last week that Dr. Laurie Hoke had resigned. “Dr. Hoke will no longer be working…

Neighbors

CRR_NH

Clear-Ridge Reporter and NewsHound March 27, 2024

Spread the love

Spread the love

Mary Stanek

Will the month of March leave like a lion?

Spread the love

Spread the love. By Mary Stanek Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon 3808 W. 57th Place •  (773) 517-7796 . The days are getting longer and slightly warmer. But my prediction of a few weeks ago–March is certainly not leaving like a lamb–may prove to be correct. A sure sign of spring in…

Peggy Zabicki

Robin sighting a sign of new beginnings

Spread the love

Spread the love. By Peggy Zabicki Your correspondent in West Lawn 3633 W. 60th Place •  (773) 504-9327 . I saw a robin the other day. This was the first sighting of the season for me. I remember my mom saying that the first robin of spring is a promise of new beginnings. May it be so. Is…

SRP-IMAGE-Logo

Thome sweet Thome: Nazareth baseball defeats Hall of Famer Jim Thome’s alma mater

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent The Nazareth baseball team took a road trip to the middle of Illinois and improved its record to 7-0 on March 23 by beating Limestone, 6-0. Limestone is the alma mater of former White Sox player and Baseball Hall of Fame member Jim Thome, who is an assistant coach…

SRP-IMAGE-Logo

Chicago Catholic League greats headed to Hall of Fame

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent A handful of area stars will be inducted into the Chicago Catholic League Coaches Association Hall of Fame. The list features Kevin Bracken (St. Laurence, wrestling), Kevin Carberry (St. Rita, football), Matt Macievic (De La Salle, cross county and track), Mike McGrew (Mount Carmel, football), Dan Nicholson (Brother Rice,…

SRP-IMAGE-Logo

Fire II tops Chicago City, advances to to second round of Hunt Open Cup

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent The Chicago Fire II picked up a late invitation to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and beat Chicago City, 6-0, on March 20 in front of an announced crowd of 810 at SeatGeek Stadium. Defender Giovanni Granda and midfielder Vitaliy Hlyut each made their professional debut and scored…

Julia Bianchi heads back on defense shortly after delivering a first-half goal for the Chicago Red Stars on March 23 at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview. Photo by Jeff Vorva

Red Stars top Seattle, open season with two wins for first time in franchise history

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent Last year’s last-place finish notwithstanding, the Chicago Red Stars have had a pretty rich history of success. The franchise has seven NWSL playoff appearances and has finished runner-up twice (2019, 2021), and prior to 2022 had finished no lower than fourth in the league ‘s regular season standings for…

SRP-IMAGE-Logo

College Football | Marian (Indiana) and St. Francis highlight Saint Xavier 2024 home slate

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent Saint Xavier has released its 2024 football schedule, which has the Cougars opening the season in Michigan. SXU will travel to the Detroit suburb of Southfield to play Lawrence Tech on Sept. 7 in a Mid-States Football Association crossover. The Cougars’ home opener kicks off at noon on Sept.…

Morton's Nariah Clay was named to the NCJAA Division II all-tournament team as the Panthers finished fifth in the nation. Photo courtesy of Morton College Department of Athletics

Morton College women’s hoops takes fifth in nation

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent For the second year in a row, the Morton College women’s basketball team finished fifth in the country. The Panthers closed out the 2023-24 campaign in Joplin, Missouri, with a 75-67 victory over Iowa Western on March 23 in the consolation championship game at the NJCAA Division II National…

Marist's Jack Meader (left) and Nathen Toth face each other during a block attempt against Downers Grove North in the semifinals of the Marist Invitational on March 23. Photo by Jeff Vorva

Boys Volleyball | Marist tops Lockport for Gold at RedHawks Invite

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Randy Whalen Correspondent Marist enjoys getting its season going by hosting a tournament that is now in its 20th year. They had a good time again this season, going unbeaten over five matches in two days to win the Marist RedHawks Invitational for the sixth consecutive time. The RedHawks ended the tournament…