Illinois clinics are prepared to protect reproductive health care rights in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s reelection, maintaining Illinois as a haven for reproductive care in the Midwest.
Mary Jane Maharry, the director of communications and marketing at Planned Parenthood of Illinois, said Planned Parenthood is committed to continuing to provide care for its patients.
“We don’t know what a Trump presidency will look like yet,” Maharry said. “What I can say is that the full spectrum of sexual and reproductive health care is safe, legal and available in Illinois.”
President-elect Trump has expressed shifting views on reproductive health care throughout his campaign. Trump has taken credit for the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, but has also stated that the six-week abortion ban in Florida was a “terrible mistake.”
Additionally, Republican-backed Project 2025, a policy agenda crafted for the next Republican president, proposes gutting abortion access by reversing the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortions.
Others from the anti-abortion movement are also making their voices heard.
Cere Thomas, a hospital administrator at Allina Health Mercy Hospital, and orthodox Christian, said, “It’s a personal conversation a woman has with her heart. The world encourages us to indulge every impulse. Casual sex has become normalized, along with an abortion, and that’s sad.”
Thomas believes that abortion equates to murder and that women generally shy away from thinking about the repercussions an abortion can have on their emotional and psychological state.
In response to Trump’s reelection, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker reiterated his commitment to preserving Illinoisans’ right to reproductive health care.
“To anyone who intends to come take away the freedom and opportunity and dignity of Illinoisans, I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior. You come for my people, you come through me,” Pritzker said in a news conference a few days after the election.
Lawmakers in Illinois passed the Reproductive Health Act in 2019, giving people the right to make their own decisions about their reproductive health. Pritzker also signed three bills into law in August, including supporting the rights to lifesaving emergency care, protecting patients and providers who travel to Illinois for reproductive care and protecting women from discrimination for their reproductive care decisions.
Missouri, a state Trump overwhelmingly won, also passed a citizen-issued initiative to enshrine abortion until fetal viability.
Reproductive health care organizations have noticed an increase in clients since the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. Planned Parenthood of Illinois has seen a 47% increase in overall abortion care patients and people traveling from over 40 states to receive abortion care, according to Maharry.
Additionally, between January and June of 2023, 18,870 total patients traveled to Illinois to receive care, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
Alison Dreith, the director of strategic partnerships at Midwest Access Coalition (MAC), a practical abortion fund which helps people travel to access safe abortions, said that after southern states restricted abortion rights, the organization’s reach expanded.
“Unintentionally our geographic region grew overnight with the Dobbs decision because we are supporting southerners in a way we never did two years ago,” Dreith said.
According to Dreith, MAC doubled their number of clients between 2021 and 2022. This year they have already seen a 26% increase in clients from last year.
Dreith said clients have expressed their gratitude for support from MAC, sharing that they have been able to attend college or get out of an abusive relationship because of help from the abortion fund.
Abortion rights groups are working to accommodate the influx of patients. Planned Parenthood of Illinois opened more locations, according to Maharry, including in Flossmoor, Illinois, near the Indiana border, a state where abortion is illegal with only a few exceptions.
The Midwest Access Coalition has expanded their staff to help meet the demands of more clients. Dreith said MAC also helped abortion funds in Texas, by working with their clients after SB8, which prohibits a physician from performing or inducing an abortion after a “fetal heartbeat” is detected, was passed in Texas in 2021. .
Several states have laws that do not allow for abortions in the case of rape or incest. Sandra Chang, an independent activist against sexual exploitation said she will keep fighting for reproductive rights and against sexual exploitation.
“We are currently working with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor Pritzker on our next steps. We don’t exactly know what will happen in the next four years, but we’re working on putting in safeguards so (Illinois) can help victims,” Chang said.
Illinois voters showed their support for reproductive rights during the 2024 election. Voters approved a legally non binding advisory measure on expanding health insurance that covers pregnancy benefits to also include in vitro fertilization (IVF).
Dreith said people can also show their support for reproductive rights by sharing accurate information and being supportive of friends if they need help.
She also thinks the future of reproductive health care in Illinois is “in a good place right now.”
“I’m glad we’ve laid that foundation and expect our state to continue to take action again for as many Americans as possible, because we’re all in this together, whether you live in Illinois or not,” Dreith said.
Laura Vasquez, Jana Simovec and Alana Schacher contributed to this report.
Correction: A previous version of this story did not attribute Chang correctly
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