After Roe

It's taken me a couple of days to gather my thoughts about Friday's Supreme Court decision.

If you've been feeling angry, afraid, outraged, helpless, or all of that mixed in a big jumble, I've been right there with you.  

Let's get a few things straight:

First of all, abortion is still safe, legal, and accessible in Illinois. That's not going to change, no matter what the extremist Court majority in Washington says. My colleagues and I have spent the last several years anticipating this decision and passing a wide range of laws to protect abortion rights in our state even if Roe fell.

But also: in every one of our neighboring states, extreme anti-abortion restrictions are likely to come into effect soon. Their far-right legislatures will ban abortions before most women even know they're pregnant. They will force women to give birth to their rapist's child. They will force girls to carry and deliver the baby of the family member who sexually assaults them. They'll force childbirth even when the mother's life is in danger. And they'll enact criminal penalties on doctors, patients, and people who help those seeking care.

No matter what you think about abortion, I think we can agree that those forced-childbirth laws sound pretty dystopian. Still, they're coming.

We know that our clinics and providers will be flooded by patients seeking care from these states. Already, major corporations are offering to pay their employees to travel to places like Illinois to get the healthcare they need.

We'll be returning to the state legislature for a special session to prepare. We're going to work on laws to protect out-of-state patients and providers, and to make sure that whatever Dark Ages laws exist in your home state, you'll be safe if you come to Illinois for care.

Until then, please reach out if you have any questions. And if you're looking for ways to help, consider donating to the Chicago Abortion Fund, the Midwest Access Coalition, or to our allies in Michigan who are fighting to get a constitutional amendment passed to protect the right to abortions in that state.