NARAL applauds Illinois for taking critical step to protect the right to safe and legal abortion
For Immediate Release: June 12, 2019
Contact: [email protected]
After Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the Reproductive Health Act into law, NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue issued the following statement in response:
“Today Illinois took critical steps to ensure the safety and well-being of women and families in Illinois. Through the Reproductive Health Act, Illinois stepped up to provide additional certainty that women have a right to access safe and legal abortion, locking in fundamental rights guaranteed by law under Roe. The stakes couldn’t be any higher as anti-choice politicians across the country overreach to roll back our fundamental freedoms with devastating consequences. We applaud Illinois for protecting reproductive freedom and the lives and health of Illinoisans at a time when Roe is under intense threat.”
This law comes as a new wave of extreme bans on abortion is sweeping the country, stripping away reproductive freedom and representing an all-out assault on abortion access. Overall, 30 states around the country have introduced, passed, or signed into law bans on abortion this year alone. These extreme and unconstitutional bills are explicitly intended to overturn Roe v. Wade, criminalize abortion, and punish women. Republicans continue their all-out assault on reproductive freedom despite the fact that 77% of Americans support Roe.
As reproductive freedom hangs on by a thin thread, with grave implications for women’s health and lives, it’s up to states to pass necessary protections for women’s safety. The Reproductive Health Act protects the right to safe and legal abortion, removes outdated and dangerous restrictions, and ensures abortion is treated like any other form of healthcare. This law removes harmful restrictions such as spousal consent, 24 hour waiting, bans on abortion coverage, and mandatory lectures, all of which are meant to shame women, punish providers, and push abortion care out-of-reach. With Roe under threat in unprecedented ways, Illinois today took steps to ensure the safety and well-being of women and families and uphold their rights.