After much debate from state lawmakers throughout lame-duck session, a measure that aims to increase access to abortion and gender reassignment procedures in Illinois has been signed into law by Gov. Pritzker.
Proponents say House Bill 4664 protects people seeking abortions, assisted reproduction and gender reassignment procedures in Illinois while expanding who can perform these procedures and protecting them from out-of-state prosecution.
The legislation is sponsored by state Sen. Celina Villanueva, D-Chicago, who said the measure was in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year to put the issue of abortion back to the states.
Pritzker signed the measure on Friday in Chicago.
“Last summer, when Roe v. Wade was overturned, I promised you that Illinois would take action to protect our people,” Pritzker said. “The General Assembly passed House Bill 4664, a monumental new law that further protects patients and providers who seek and deliver legal and safe reproductive healthcare in Illinois.”
The measure was met with pushback from Republican lawmakers and groups opposed to relaxing abortion regulations. Molly Rumley spoke before a Senate committee on behalf of Illinois Right to Life before the measure passed. She warned of to the dangers of specific individuals performing medical procedures.
“One of the major problems we see with this bill is it allows nondoctors to perform surgical abortions,” Rumley said. “This is not in the best interest of women. If such surgeries are to be done, they should be done in a manner with physicians who are trained to do this, and that is safe for the women.”
Republican State Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Morrisonville, took issue with the no parental notification language in the bill.
“This can be paid for by taxpayer dollars, and their parents never have to know, and it can be done in a clinic that is not held up to medical standards,” Bourne said during House floor debate on the bill. “It is not exactly the same as a woman and her doctor, and it is not exactly safe, legal, and rare either.”
Pritzker says the law is another step in protecting Illinoisan’s healthcare rights.
“Here in Illinois, we worked together to protect reproductive rights, and we succeeded when we signed the reproductive health act in 2019,” Pritzker said.
Illinois already has some of the least restrictive abortion laws in the country, with elective abortions and no parental notification of minor girls getting the procedure. The state has seen an influx of out-of-state residents seeking to terminate a pregnancy in Illinois because of more restrictive laws in other states.
The bill passed through the Senate with a 41-16 vote and later was approved by the Illinois House 70-39. The measure goes into effect immediately.
BY ANDREW HENSEL WITH THE ILLINOIS RADIO NETWORK