Press Release:  Four Years After Overturn of Roe v. Wade, Illinois Republicans Continue to Attack Women’s Health

Springfield, IL — Today marks four years since Donald Trump’s Supreme Court justices ripped away bodily autonomy from millions of women, leaving Illinois to step up as a safe haven for full reproductive health care—which includes abortions. On the fourth anniversary of the Dobbs ruling, Democratic Party of Illinois Chair Lisa Hernandez released the following statement:

“Illinois Republicans cannot pretend that they care about children and pregnant women when they cut SNAP in the same breath. They can’t possibly advocate for families while they underfund Medicaid or dismantle the Department of Education. Protecting life only seems to matter when it’s connected to controlling women’s bodies. It’s days like today where I’m even more proud to be an Illinois Democrat because we have been unwavering in our belief–and actions–that women have a right to choose.”

In an effort to punish and control women, four years after extremists struck down Roe, Illinois Republicans continue their aggressive attempts strip away Illinoisans’ right to the health care they need:

• In February, Senate Republican Caucus Chair Neil Anderson, who later resigned from his GOP leadership position, led a proposal that would charge women with homicide by redefining a fertilized egg as a legal person. A separate bill would reinstate the death penalty, creating a chilling reality in which, under the ILGOP’s agenda, a woman who gets an abortion would face the threat of capital punishment.

• The following month, pro-white life Republican Mary Miller introduced the Clean Water for All Life Act, a bill based on lies about water pollution but is an attack on abortion and miscarriages. The bill would also ban telehealth abortion care–and would threaten health care providers with prison time.

While the ILGOP pretends their anti-abortion obsession is about protecting life, Illinois Democrats see through their faulty logic by protecting the lives of women. Illinois has:

• 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. In the FY27 budget, Democrats invested another $18 million for reproductive health initiatives.

• 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.

• Defended access to reproductive care from Trump Administration regulations that allow employers to strip workers of guaranteed, no-cost coverage for birth control and other contraceptive care

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