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The Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in America on June 24, 2022. This decision was made due to the fact that the substantive right to abortion was not “deeply rooted in this Nation’s history or tradition,” nor considered a right when the Due Process Clause was ratified in 1868 and was unknown in U.S. law until Roe. To millions of Americans, this was a tragic day, but states like Illinois managed to stay unaffected by abortion laws for now.
The Aftermath of the Abortion Ban in Illinois
As it stands now, abortion in Illinois is legal. The Illinois Reproductive Health Act states that women have the “fundamental right” to access abortion services. Additionally, a “fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus does not have independent rights.” JB Pritzker signed the bill into law on June 12, 2019. He stated, “In Illinois, we trust women. Despite the action of the Supreme Court today overturning Roe v. Wade, the right to safe, accessible reproductive health care is in full force in Illinois – and will remain so.”
Pritzker called the General Assembly to hold a special session in the coming weeks for stronger reproductive rights. However, Carolyn Shapiro, professor of law and co-director of Chicago-Kent College of Law’s Institute on the Supreme Court of the United States, noted that if Roe v. Wade is overturned and Congress debates the possibility of a nationwide abortion restriction, then Illinois could well be affected by the overturn.
What Will happen if Things Progress
“If there are national efforts to change the law in Congress to impose different types of abortion bans – as Congress did with what they call the partial-birth abortion ban, which the Supreme Court upheld…that would obviously have enormous effects here in Illinois,” Shapiro stated. She added that is a frightening thought.
It is not certain that Illinois will always be a pro-choice state. The lawmakers took steps to prevent abortion rights from being over-thrown before the overturn, but an upcoming judicial election could damage those safeguards. If the wrong people, those who are against women’s rights, are elected to office, if the legislature or the governorship turns Republican, we will end up being an anti-choice state.
This November, two seats on the Illinois Supreme Court are up for grabs in the second and third judicial districts, both surrounding Chicago. Democrats hold a slim 4-3 majority on the court currently. Despite that, if the Republican judicial candidates win in the two suburban districts that only lean Democratic, the GOP will take control of the court for the first time in decades.
If this were to occur, it will cause trouble for the legions of people now coming to Illinois for abortions from neighboring states where the procedure has been banned, stated advocates.
In recent years, Illinois has seen an influx of individuals traveling to the state to seek reproductive care. Around 7,534 non-residents received this debated medical procedure in Illinois in 2019, compared with 2,970 in 2014 and 5,528 in 2017, according to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health.
If the election goes the wrong way then Illinois could lose its abortion rights completely, said Terry Cosgrove, president and CEO of Personal PAC, an abortion rights advocacy group.
What Do the People Think?
In spite of Roe v. Wade being overturned and what that could do to the future of Illinois, people seem to have mixed reviews on the matter. To some, the day of the overturning was a day to rejoice. “Today was a day of celebration across the country for anti-abortion rights supporters gathering in light of the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and leave access to abortion up to states…Today, both women and preborn babies will be protected,” according to NPR. To others, it was the day that their rights were taken away. “What this means to women is such an insult. It’s a slap in the face to women about using their own judgment to make their own decisions about their reproductive freedom,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.
Written by Olivia Nwigwe
Edited by Sheena Robertson
Sources:
NBC Chicago: Is Abortion Legal in Illinois? Here Are the Laws in Place
NBC News: Abortion in Illinois imperilled if GOP takes control of the state Supreme Court in November; by Natasha Korecki, Erik Ortiz, and Corky Siemaszko
NPR: Illinois protects access to abortion. Locals have mixed reactions to the Roe ruling; by Cheryl Corley
Images Courtesy of Victoria Pickering‘s Flickr page – Creative Commons license