Planned Parenthood IL Partners With Wisconsin For Abortion Care Access

ILLINOIS — Even before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month, which placed the legality of abortion on a state-by-state basis, Illinois had established itself as a safe haven for out-of-state women who wanted to terminate a pregnancy.

But since the court’s decision to make abortion illegal in nearly half of the states in the country, Illinois Planned Parenthood clinics have seen an upswing in business at its clinics, officials said. That includes a 10-fold increase in patients from Wisconsin, which became one of the dozens of states where abortion is not legally permitted.

After anticipating the fall of Roe v. Wade for more than a year, officials from Planned Parenthood Illinois and Planned Parenthood Wisconsin announced a partnership on Thursday that will allow for the providing of medical services for women from Wisconsin who can now cross the border to have a pregnancy terminated without fear of prosecution.

The partnership will continue as long as there is a need to serve patients from Wisconsin, officials said, and Illinois Planned Parenthood officials anticipate that soon, the agency will be working to establish similar agreements with other neighboring states like Indiana, Michigan, and Missouri where abortion is now illegal.

In 2020 alone, Illinois doctors performed nearly 10,000 abortions on out-of-state women, which represented a 29 percent jump from 2019.

Jennifer Welch, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois, said in a news conference Thursday that is she still alternating between dismayed and furious about the Supreme Court decision that made abortion illegal on a national basis.

But she said that Illinois has now become an oasis for patient care for women who want to have pregnancies terminated from states like Wisconsin, where patients are “stranded in a vast abortion desert.”

There are currently 17 Illinois Planned Parenthood clinics around the state that Welch now anticipates will see more traffic since the overturning of Roe. w. Wade. That includes the clinic in Waukegan, which has been servicing Wisconsin patients since the Supreme Court’s decision.

The Waukegan care center was opened in 2020, Welch said, in anticipation that Roe v. Wade would be overturned. The decision to open the facility was made partly to serve patients in Wisconsin, where there are only four Planned Parenthood clinics in Milwaukee (two clinics), Madison, and Sheboygan, where abortions were performed prior to last month's Supreme Court decision.

Earlier this year, medical staff members from Wisconsin started training in Illinois as the partnership between Planned Parenthood officials from both states was finalized. Physicians and other staff became licensed in Illinois, and a plan went into effect that allowed Wisconsin patients to begin and end their care in their home state.

In one case, a single mother of twins who was scheduled to have an abortion in Wisconsin the day after Roe vs. Wade was overturned, was able to have the procedure done in Waukegan days after her original appointment was canceled in Wisconsin.

“This is clear evidence that abortion restrictions and bans do not stop people from having abortions,” Welch said on Thursday. “Restrictions and bans only make it harder for people to access essential reproductive health care where they live.”

Tanya Atkinson, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, said the Supreme Court’s recent decision has been “absolutely devastating” for Wisconsin residents. She said the decision has had harmful consequences for residents who are now forced to travel, in some cases, hundreds of miles for access to reproductive health care or has forced them to remain pregnant.

Prior to the decision, 96 percent of Wisconsin counties did not have reproductive health care centers, which limited access to care for thousands of women, Atkinson said. In 2021, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin centers conducted about 5,000 abortions for women across the state.

Atkinson said since the Supreme Court decision, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin’s call load has doubled and patients in the state are now being referred to out-of-state locations for care. Atkinson said that patients there are already struggling with poverty, abuse, or other issues, which makes access to “safe, non-judgmental” abortion care in Illinois even more necessary.

“Despite the devastating impact of this criminal abortion ban, we are grateful to have healthcare options for our patients right next door,” Atkinson said during Thursday's news conference.

Planned Parenthood health centers in Wisconsin continue to provide some medical care to patients along with information and other services, Atkinson said.

Dr. Allison Linton, Planned Parenthood Wisconsin’s associate medical director, called the Supreme Court’s decision “terrifying and heartbreaking” and leaves thousands of women in the state without options for reproductive healthcare moving forward.

“The decision of whether to have a child or not to have a child is deeply personal,” Linton said Thursday. “And it should be left up to the person to make that decision for themselves.”

Linton is now among the Wisconsin healthcare providers who will commute to Illinois to continue to work as part of the new partnership with Illinois. By doing so, patients in Wisconsin will have access to the same providers they saw previously.

That continuity is an important component of the partnership, officials said, as Planned Parenthood officials look to continue to provide necessary care to women.

Conversations between the two states began in 2021 ago as Planned Parenthood officials began to envision how things would change if Roe v. Wade was overturned. Now, with the partnership in place, Illinois officials expect to see an increase of between 20,000 to 30,000 new out-of-state patients coming to Illinois, where abortion will remain legal, state officials — including Gov. J.B. Pritzker have said.

In Waukegan, abortion care has doubled since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which officials expect to continue as more women from neighboring states continue to travel to Illinois for healthcare services.

In addition, a Madison doctor this week announced plans to open two abortion clinics in Rockford to allow more access for Wisconsin women to receive the reproductive healthcare they need.

Dr. Dennis Christensen has previously owned and operated women's clinics in Rockford and Milwaukee and is taking steps to expand abortion access in Illinois, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.

Officials said Thursday that Planned Parenthood does not have an active partnership with Christensen, but said he is among healthcare providers looking to continue to provide reproductive healthcare for women in states where abortion is now legal.

Together, Planned Parenthood officials from both states said the partnership is critical, as officials in Illinois only anticipate more out-of-state patients traveling across borders to receive care. Both agencies plan to provide financial support to cover travel costs to Wisconsin for patients, who may find it difficult to pay for medical services now that they need to leave the state to receive care.