CHICAGO — Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday signed a package of bills that ensures access to emergency medical care for pregnant women, expands Illinois’ shield laws and prohibits discrimination based on reproductive health decisions.
“Across the nation we can see extremists are ramping up their efforts to restrict and punish women seeking to exercise their rights and control over their own bodies. We can’t wait around and be reactive when the latest attacks come. The pro-choice majority in this country need to be proactive,” the governor said at the bill-signing event at the offices of the Illinois Department of Human Rights, at 555 West Monroe Street in Chicago.
The bills signed include:
HB581, which ensures that pregnant women can access needed emergency medical care
HB5239, which includes a provision to restrict information state and local agencies can release, including to other states seeking information about people who’ve traveled to the state for an abortion or gender-affirming care
HB4867, which clarifies and expands the Illinois Human Rights Act to prohibit discrimination based on reproductive health decisions.
“These laws were crafted to shield Illinoisans from future attacks by the US Supreme Court and other bad actors who will attempt to impose their backward ideology on the rest of us,” he said.
Abortion rights is an issue Democrats believe they can successfully campaign on heading into the November election.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that the number of women getting abortions in the U.S. went up in the first three months of 2024 compared with before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade. In Illinois, the numbers were up by more than 2,600 per month, according to data released from the Society of Family Planning.
