Governor J.B. Pritzker of Illinois this week signed a new law expanding abortion even further in the abortion haven state, allegedly in order to meet “soaring demand.”
HB 4664 passed on the last day of the lame-duck legislative session, and contains several provisions expanding the abortion industry in the state. Proponents of the law – both when Pritzker signed the bill and in statements from pro-abortion legislators – claimed the changes became necessary due to rising demand in Illinois on account of pro-life laws enacted in neighboring states in the aftermath of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. As such, part of the main thrust of the law is to grow the abortion workforce in the state as quickly as possible.
To meet this alleged surge in demand, the bill expedites the licensing of out-of-state medical professionals who commit abortions, provided there is no pending malpractice. It allows nurse practitioners and physician assistants to commit aspiration abortions, also known as dilation and curettage (D&C), a procedure that involves tearing the preborn baby apart limb by limb with a powerful vacuum. The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetrician Gynecologists (AAPLOG) has in the past raised the alarm over the push for less-educated medical professionals to commit these types of abortion, because “complications can occur in any procedure. When these complications occur, it is unlikely that these minimally trained technicians will have the skills and experience to manage the complications.”
In seeking to attract abortionists from states where abortion is illegal, the bill provides a legal shield for abortionists, gives legal liability insurance protections to those who commit abortions, and enables any medical professional – broadly defined to include physician, pharmacists, therapists, and others – who had a license pulled by another state for committing illegal abortions to continue to practice in Illinois. And in a tragic juxtaposition, the law also allows for birth centers to commit abortions.
State Sen. Jil Tracy argued against this measure. “It’s a horrible situation that we in our offices are facing every day. It is disingenuous to think that professional regulations have the capacity to expedite these licenses,” said Tracy, according to the Washington Examiner. “Let’s certainly hope those physicians that I just described, that are waiting to help our citizens here in Illinois on a multitude of illnesses like cancer, brain tumors, you name it, are not pushed to the back of the line.”
Illinois Sen. Terri Bryant also pushed back. “I understand that you may not agree with whether or not (abortion) should have been illegal in other states,” Bryant said as reported by the State Journal-Register. “But the fact is that is a doctor who’s performing an illegal act in another state and we’re going to ask them to come to Illinois – and, in fact, we’re going to expedite their licenses in order to do that.”
The bill requires state-regulated insurance plans to cover abortion pills with no copay, a change that affects public employees and those who buy their health insurance on the state exchange, but not employer-provided health insurance plans. Still, the law requires out-of-network costs for all insurance to be equivalent to in-network costs for all “reproductive health care,” according to the State Journal-Register.
Sen. Darren Bailey, former gubernatorial candidate, called the legislation “pure evil.” “This is wrong. God help us,” he said, according to ABC7 Chicago.
The Illinois Catholic Conference put out a statement condemning the law and saying that it is “likely to put women at risk rather than help them, and unfortunately, it will lead to more abortion and destruction of unborn human life. Allowing certain medical professionals to perform [aspiration] abortions early in a pregnancy as well as allowing someone whose license has been revoked or suspended for doing an abortion in a state where the practice is illegal to do abortions in Illinois is harmful to women.”
