CONTACT:
Gwen Pepin
[email protected]
Springfield, IL – Today marks three years since Donald Trump’s handpicked Supreme Court justices ripped away women’s recognized fundamental right to make decisions about their own body, opening the floodgates for Trump and his Republican cronies to launch attacks on women’s reproductive health and enact abortion bans nationwide. On the third anniversary of the Dobbs ruling, Democratic Party of Illinois Chair Lisa Hernandez released the following statement:
“Three years ago today, Trump’s Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade – ending nearly 50 years of precedent and denying women from their fundamental right to abortion and health care. Since then, Republicans nationwide have wasted no time enacting extreme abortion bans, restricting birth control access, and putting women’s lives at risk. This has hit hardest for Black, Latina, and low-income women who already face the worst health disparities. Now, Trump and the GOP are sneaking a backdoor abortion ban into their dangerous and cruel budget bill. While they try to control women’s bodies, Illinois Democrats will always fight to be a safe haven for women needing the comprehensive care they deserve.”
While Trump pushes his dangerous backdoor abortion ban through Congress and Republicans across the country threaten women’s access to critical health care, Illinois Democrats have:
- Enshrined the right to an abortion in state law.
- Passed nation-leading protections for patients and providers.
- Continued investing in reproductive health care in the FY26 budget with $24 million for reproductive health initiatives, including $10 million for the public facing navigation hotline to help patients access care.
- Strengthened protections and access to reproductive health care this year amidst GOP threats.
- Expanded the list of protected parties in the Illinois Human Rights Act to prohibit discrimination against people for their reproductive health decisions, including abortion, in vitro fertilization and fertility treatment.
Meanwhile, Illinois Republicans are following Trump’s lead by pushing anti-abortion legislation.
- Earlier this year, U.S. Representatives Mary Miller and Darin LaHood cosponsored legislation in Congress that would assert personhood starts at conception—working overtime to prevent women from bodily autonomy before they even know they’re pregnant.
- This year, the ILGOP introduced a bill that would repeal Illinois’ Reproductive Health Act, significantly restrict abortion access, and punish women seeking reproductive care.
- ILGOP voted against House Bill 5239 that bans Illinois from aiding other states’ investigations of people coming to Illinois to seek abortions or other reproductive health care.
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