Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday signed into law a trio of measures aimed at expanding protections for reproductive and gender-affirming health care.
“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 at a news conference Wednesday, calling the new laws “anticipatory.”
Abortion rights have been a key part of Pritzker’s legislative agenda in Illinois and in his role as a campaign surrogate for the Democratic ticket in the upcoming presidential election.
The latest laws add onto existing abortion rights in Illinois in three ways: protecting abortion patients from housing, workplace and other types of discrimination; shielding out-of-state patients from investigations launched beyond Illinois’ borders; and protecting patients who need emergency abortion care in the event that federal protection weakens.
Officials at Wednesday’s bill signing framed the package as protecting both Illinois residents and people from all Midwestern and southern states that have more restrictive abortion laws.
The event came just a day after Vice President Kamala Harris chose Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota as her running mate, passing over Pritzker and a handful of other contenders while underscoring the political importance for Democrats of the Midwestern “blue wall.” Republicans have argued the abortion protections championed by Walz and Pritzker are extreme.
The measures signed by the governor were passed this spring by the Democratic-controlled General Assembly. Democratic Rep. Dagmara Avelar of Bolingbrook said being a Midwesterner means knowing “the importance of folks being a good neighbor.”
“Recently, however, it seems that leaders in some of our neighboring states … have forgotten what it means to be a Midwesterner. Instead of helping those that need the support of the community, that needs it the most, actually, they are forcing them into the shadows,” she said, referring to recently tightened abortion laws in Iowa and elsewhere.
One of the new Illinois laws is designed specifically to help patients who come to Illinois from elsewhere for reproductive health care. It shields doctors and patients who travel to Illinois for abortions and gender-affirming care by banning local jurisdictions from providing information or resources to any out-of-state investigations.
Legislation signed Wednesday also adds “reproductive health decisions” to state law protecting people from discrimination and harassment. That means it protects those who have had abortions or used birth control or IVF from being discriminated against in housing, employment or public accommodations.
For example, it would be a civil rights violation under the law for an employer to fire an employee because they used IVF, or for a landlord to refuse a renter because the renter had an abortion, according to the governor’s office.
A final bill was in response to fears that the conservative Supreme Court majority could restrict emergency abortion care, according to the governor’s office. The court issued a procedural ruling in a case on the issue earlier this summer, allowing providers in the state of Idaho to continue providing abortions in medical emergencies without resolving the underlying legal questions.
“Illinois is and will always be a safe haven, and I’m so grateful for the many partners who stand up here today who have helped us maintain that status in the Midwest, regardless of what happens at the federal level or decisions made by our extreme Supreme Court,” Democratic House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch of Hillside said, speaking alongside a group of lawmakers, doctors and advocates.
Pritzker didn’t answer directly when asked whether a state constitutional amendment on abortion or other legislation might be on deck for Illinois. He has backed ballot measures to enshrine abortion rights in other states but a state constitutional amendment is not currently in line for Illinois.
Still, Pritzker said he’s always trying to get ahead of possible new restrictions in states led by Republicans. The governor has been a leader on the issue both in-state and through his national political organization Think Big America.
“Every year it shocks me, the new angles from which the Republicans try to take away a woman’s right to choose,” Pritzker said Wednesday.
