When my phone started blowing up late Monday night, I couldn’t have prepared myself for the news of the leaked Supreme Court opinion overturning the 1973 decision known as Roe v. Wade and the 1992 decision known as Planned Parenthood v. Casey. These decisions form the foundation of nearly 50 years of law guaranteeing the right to choose abortion based on the Court’s recognition of the fundamental right to privacy. Since then, other cases have been added to the mix, based upon that same concept. That’s one of the most chilling pieces of the draft decision in that there are specific references to cases that decided access to birth control, marriage equality, and interracial marriage. It’s important to note that while the U.S. Supreme Court has acknowledged the leak, they haven’t spoken to when the final draft is expected or how close to final this one is, so for now people need to know that abortion remains legal in the United States and will remain so in Illinois when this decision is official. The bad news is that 26 states already are poised to outlaw most if not all abortions the minute this decision takes effect, and we can anticipate other state legislatures taking the first opportunity to pass bans themselves.
Here in Illinois, we’ve been planning for this day for a while. In 2017, we passed HB40 which eliminated our state’s so-called “trigger law.” This is the way most of those 26 states will outlaw abortion: there are abortion bans on the books that take effect the instant Roe is overturned. In case anyone isn’t paying attention here and thinks that the moment we’re in is something recent: those trigger laws were almost all passed in the immediate aftermath of the Roe decision as these plans have been in the works from day 1. Then in 2019, we took the additional step of passing the Reproductive Health Act which cleared out old restrictive language such as spousal consent, waiting periods, etc. that resulted from restrictive laws being passed over the years only to be enjoined by the courts. As the lead sponsor of the RHA, I described these restrictions as zombie laws just waiting for the end of Roe to come roaring back to life. The law took additional steps to ensure that all Illinoisians have access to the full range of reproductive health care without government interference. When Governor Pritzker signed the RHA, we described it as a firewall around Illinois, protecting us against the worst outcomes. Having that firewall was our goal, but it left out one important piece of the puzzle: our Parental Notice of Abortion Act. While nobody would suggest that a young person facing an unintended pregnancy should face the decision of what to do alone, the tragic reality is that many young people simply cannot safely seek the support of a parent or guardian, and no law in the world can make that possible. Last year, Rep. Anna Moeller passed the PNA repeal and strengthened the firewall.
Over the course of the last couple of years, we have seen an expected uptick in out-of-state patients seeking abortion care here in Illinois. According to our Illinois Department of Public Health, we have seen an increase in out-of-state patients from just a little over 3,000 induced pregnancies in 2011 to now over 9,000 since 2020. We’ve seen a simultaneous uptick in states passing restrictions that force patients to seek care out-of-state while also seeking creative and cruel ways to penalize those who seek or help those seeking care. Acknowledging our responsibility to these patients and providers, we are working to shore up protections in these areas such as with Rep. Maura Hirschauer’s HB1464 protecting health care providers from adverse actions from other states while acknowledging that abortion patients aren’t the only people having to flee hostile states to find care. We are similarly seeing states penalizing parents for seeking gender-affirming care for trans kids and anything we do here in Illinois must be inclusive of protecting these families as well. I’m working on a comprehensive bill on this and will be introducing it very soon.
Meanwhile, we’ve heard very clear indications from GOP leadership of a desire to pass a nationwide ban on abortion if they are successful in retaking Congress. If that were to happen, the RHA and other protections would be invalidated. Similarly, Congressional Democrats have been working on the passage of the Women’s Health Protection Act that would codify the principles of Roe and allow states to continue to protect choice. While that bill has passed the House, the Senate has been unable to pass it and its prospects aren’t clear.
We’ve got a lot of work to do. This newsletter explains what’s happening on the government side of things and therefore doesn’t include political actions. I encourage anyone seeking information or looking to get involved in advocating for access to reproductive health to contact organizations that engage in abortion advocacy.
In the meantime, there are a lot of organizations doing amazing work on the ground here in Chicago, across our state, and nationally. If you’re able, consider making a contribution to your local abortion fund. These organizations like the Chicago Abortion Fund have existed for years given the historical prohibitions on funding abortion services. However, as bans began proliferating across the country and patients began traveling further and further to find safe care, they pivoted to provide critical support for travel, logistics, and care. The demand is so great they simply can never have enough resources.
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Sincerely,
Kelly Cassidy
State Representative, 14th District
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773-784-2002(phone)
773-784-2060(fax)
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