Hell No! In IL We Trust Women: Pritzker On Leaked Roe V. Wade Report

ILLINOIS — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has always maintained that the state is a safe haven for women and their reproductive rights, but he has doubled down on that stance after a published report leaked that the Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion nationwide will be overturned by justices.

Politico, citing a draft opinion of a coming ruling, reported late Monday night that the 1973 Supreme Court ruling, Roe v. Wade, would be struck down. The decision would no longer make abortion legal in all 50 states.

On Tuesday, Pritzker in a news conference that "no matter what atrocity of an opinion the Supreme Court officially rolls out this summer in regards to Roe versus Wade — abortion will always be safe and legal here in Illinois."

Pritzker signed the Reproductive Health Care Act into law in 2019. The law establishes a fundamental right to reproductive healthcare —including abortion and maternity care — in Illinois state law. The law also ensures that state regulations reflect current medical standards and requires private health insurance plans in Illinois to cover abortion like they do other pregnancy-related care.

Tuesday morning, Pritzker spoke surrounded by political allies, and said he will "fight like hell" not only for women who live in Illinois, but for "every person in every corner of this country who deserves to live a life of their own design.”

Pritzker, along with others who spoke on Tuesday, said that Illinois will continue to be a "beacon of hope" in an increasingly dark world and warned that Republicans would not stop attacking the rights of Americans and will soon be targeting same-sex marriage and other issues.

The ruling on Roe v. Wade isn’t expected until June or July, according to the Politico report, which cites a draft opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito. Politico reported that the exact wording of the draft could change between now and then, but reported that the draft opinion was "a full-throated, unflinching repudiation of the 1973 decision which guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights and a subsequent 1992 decision — Planned Parenthood v. Casey — that largely maintained the right."

Alito wrote, "Roe was egregiously wrong from the start."

During Tuesday's news conference, Illinois House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch took aim at Alito, saying the Supreme Court justice is "egregiously wrong" and, echoing Pritzker, that Illinois will "not go back" when it comes to the topic of women's productive rights.

"We’ve been warned this day would come," Welch said Tuesday. "That’s why we’ve worked hard in Illinois to ensure Roe v. Wade is codified into law and reproductive health care will never be in jeopardy."

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said Tuesday that in 2020 alone, more than 10,000 women came to Illinois for an abortion, which represents a 29 increase from the previous year. While Illinois lawmakers said they are committed to keeping abortion legal in the state, Raoul said that neighboring states, such as Missouri, have used "draconian steps" to take away women's reproductive rights, which makes the possible overturning of Roe v. Wade "extremely disturbing".

"Laws such as Illinois’ Reproductive Health Act, which my office supported, are more important than ever in ensuring that regardless of the Supreme Court’s final decision, Illinois women will remain free to make highly personal reproductive health decisions in consultation with their medical providers," Raoul said.

He added: “I take seriously the vital role that attorneys general play in preserving access to reproductive health care, and I will continue to advocate for the rights of all women to access the reproductive care they need within their own communities – without having to face the burden of crossing state lines to receive what can be lifesaving abortions.”

Without Roe vs. Wade in place, Pritzker said the burden across the nation will fall disproportionately on the most marginalized women and that they will "bear the highest cost" of this decision. He called the implications of reversing the 1973 decision "terrifying".

"We were warned about today," the governor said at Tuesday's news conference. "We were warned over, over and over again, and yet some people didn't want to believe it. So let me put you on alert again: if you think the Republican politicians who have engineered the reversal of Roe v. Wade are going to stop here, let me tell you otherwise. This is just the beginning."

Saying he feared marriage equality and protections for minorities and other marginalized groups could meet a similar fate, Pritzker added: "I'm so tired of the same old B.S. on the right. ...stop pretending you're patriots when you're cheering the death of democracy."

On Tuesday, Illinois Rep. Kelly Cassidy, the principal sponsor of the Reproductive Health Care Act, said that she, like many others, knew this day was coming. But while the draft of the Supreme Court decision has not been finalized, Democrats fear that the language in the opinion will not change much.

She said that lawmakers in Illinois have worked hard to build a forcefield that protects women's rights and creates a "safe zone" for reproductive rights. She said she does not buy the sincerity of those proponents of overturning Roe v. Wade who said they simply want to see abortion rights decided at the state level.

She said it is clear those lawmakers are coming for a national ban on abortion, and said no state law passed in Illinois will be effective if that takes place. Cassidy equates the current political landscape as being one where her rights are teetering at the time of a Jenga tower that "we are watching crash in real-time."

"We cannot rest of these rights," Cassidy said during Tuesday's news conference. "We have to stand firm."

Other Democrats agreed, while vowing to keep the state a safe place for women's rights and the rights of others who Democrats fear are under attack."

“As long as there is a Democratic majority in the Illinois State Senate, women will have their rights protected,” Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) said. “We will stand as a bulwark against any efforts to turn back the clock to darker days.”