SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – As a part of his fight to ensure women’s access to health care, state Rep. Jonathan Carroll, D-Northbrook, is highlighting Governor J.B. Pritzker’s approval of the Reproductive Health Act, or Senate Bill 25.

“As states around the country restrict women’s health care, even going so far as to outlaw abortions, Illinois is stepping up to be the leader by protecting access to reproductive health care,” said Carroll. “This new law ensures women’s health care will always be a fundamental right in Illinois, and makes it clear that Illinois women will always have the right to make their own medical decisions. Making women’s health care a fundamental right means ensuring they are free from unnecessary political interference.”

Carroll backed Senate Bill 25, the Reproductive Health Act (RHA), which removes a whole host of antiquated Illinois laws that haven’t been enforced for decades like spousal consent, dangerous restrictions at various stages of pregnancy and even criminal penalties. Carroll supported the RHA to ensure women have access to necessary health care in consultation with their physicians and family, not the government.

“With the governor signing the Reproductive Health Act, women’s health care is now protected as a fundamental right under Illinois law,” said Terry Cosgrove, president and CEO of Personal PAC. “I want to thank Rep. Carroll for his leadership in passing the RHA and standing up for Illinois women by protecting access to medical care no matter what Donald Trump and his right-wing allies do in Washington.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – While states across the country continue passing unprecedented restrictions on access to reproductive health care, Illinois has taken a step in the opposite direction as Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the Reproductive Health Act, a measure backed by state Rep. Karina Villa, D-West Chicago, to ensure that women’s health care is protected under Illinois law.

“It is clear that Donald Trump and his extreme allies are working to build the foundation to challenge Roe v. Wade. I believe that women’s health care is a fundamental right, so I took action and passed the Reproductive Health Act to protect Illinois women’s access to health care services without political interference,” said Villa. “I am proud to see this measure be signed into law, ensuring that women’s right to bodily autonomy and access to safe, legal health care services are protected in Illinois no matter what happens in Washington.”

Villa backed Senate Bill 25, the Reproductive Health Act, which will protect access to reproductive health care services, including contraception, fertility treatment and abortion in Illinois if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court. Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently signed the Reproductive Health Act into law.

“With the governor signing the Reproductive Health Act, women’s health care is now protected as a fundamental right under Illinois law,” said Terry Cosgrove, president and CEO of Personal PAC. “I want to thank Representative Villa for her leadership in passing the RHA and standing up for Illinois women by protecting access to medical care no matter what Donald Trump and his right-wing allies do in Washington.”

CHICAGO – State Rep. Camille Y. Lilly, D-Chicago, is highlighting her support for reproductive freedom and women’s health following the enactment of the Reproductive Health Act (RHA) in Illinois.

“Women across Illinois and across the United States deserve to have the same health care freedom and control over their bodies as men. For too long women, particularly women of color, have been targeted by a punitive system that punishes them for simply trying to access health care and exercise control over their own bodies,” Lilly said. “The Reproductive Health Act will put an end that punitive system in Illinois and serve as a model for how the United States should treat reproductive health and women’s health care.”

Lilly supported Senate Bill 25, known as the Reproductive Health Act, a comprehensive measure to establish an individual’s fundamental right to make decisions about reproductive health care free of government interference. The RHA establishes that individuals in Illinois have the right to make personal decisions about their reproductive health including the ability to choose or refuse birth control or sterilization, give birth, or to choose or refuse an abortion. The RHA also prohibits governments from punishing women for exercising their reproductive health rights, repeals statutes previously ruled unconstitutional by courts that sought to punish women for exercising reproductive freedom, and removes criminal penalties for doctors who provided reproductive health care, including abortions, to women.

“Throughout history, we have seen the results of draconian laws that seek to control women’s reproductive freedom. These laws result in severe physical and emotional harm to women, including death,” Lilly said. “In Illinois we are standing up for women and for health care access because we trust women to make the best decision for their health care needs and for their bodies.”

CHICAGO, Ill. –State Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview, released the following statement after attending the historic signing of the Reproductive Health Act (RHA), which protects women’s right to choose in Illinois:

“100 years ago, Illinois demonstrated its commitment to equality and self-determination by being the first state to ratify the 19^th amendment, paving the way for women’s right to vote. Today, we renewed that commitment by signing the Reproductive Health Act into law, which ensures we trust women to make their own medical decisions.

“While there are those who wish to diswtort and politicize this issue, we must not forget that this is about women having the freedom to know their own minds and make their own choices about their bodies. The RHA ensures that comprehensive reproductive health care will remain a reality in Illinois, regardless of what happens at the federal level. I am proud to stand ever vigilant against those who wish to take us back to a time when women died attempting to exercise freedom over their own lives. We will not go back.”

CHICAGO – State Rep. Jaime Andrade, D-Chicago, joined fellow legislators and Governor Pritzker for the signing of the Reproductive Health Act, Senate Bill 25, which enshrines women’s health care as a fundamental right in Illinois, into law. He issued the following statement:

“Despite the attacks on women’s health care occurring across the country, it is my belief that it is not government’s place stand in the way of the private, sensitive medical decisions that should be left between a woman, her family and her doctor. It is disrespectful to question the ability of women to make the best choices for themselves by attempting to take away their autonomy. We must stand with women by trusting them to determine their own life course and protect their access to reproductive services.

“Almost 100 years ago to the date, Illinois lead the way in equality between the sexes by being the first state to ratify the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote. I am proud to be from a state with such a progressive history and I am more proud make new progressive history by passing the RHA.”

BUFFALO GROVE, Ill. – Following the General Assembly’s passage of the Reproductive Health Act (RHA) last month, state Rep. Daniel Didech, D-Buffalo Grove, is celebrating Illinois becoming a national leader in protecting a woman’s right to choose.

“Illinois stands firmly on the right side of history by passing the Reproductive Health Act,” said Didech. “Illinois stands in stark contrast to extreme states like Georgia and Alabama who are seeking to criminalize doctors and women.”

The Reproductive Health Act passed the Illinois House by a narrow vote of 64-50 and was signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday. The act aims to repeal outdated laws still on the books in Illinois, including those that could potentially criminalize doctors and women. Didech hopes that the RHA will serve as a blueprint for defending women’s rights across the nation.

“With draconian legislation passing in other states, and a President appointing Supreme Court Justices looking for an excuse to restrict choice, we need to be ready for a future without Roe v. Wade,” said Didech. “The RHA ensures that, even if lawmakers elsewhere are failing to stand up for what is right, Illinois will defend the right of every woman to make decisions about her own body.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – In response to states like Alabama, Georgia and Missouri recently implementing restrictive bans on access to reproductive health care, state Rep. Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, helped to pass the Reproductive Health Act out of the Illinois House.

“It has been alarming to watch states across the country pass laws specifically crafted to strip away protections for women’s health,” Mussman said.  “While anti-choice politicians are advocating for these dangerous policies as part of their political agendas, I will continue to fight to protect access to reproductive health care in Illinois.  

The Mussman-backed Senate Bill 25 creates the Reproductive Health Act, which will protect access to reproductive health care services in Illinois if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court.  Mussman has been a strong advocate for expanding and protecting access to reproductive health care services, and has fought for legislation to allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control.

“With the passage of the Reproductive Health Act out of the Illinois House, we are one step closer to ensuring that women’s health care is a fundamental right while the President and his extreme allies dismantle Roe v. Wade,” said Terry Cosgrove, President and CEO of Personal PAC. “Thank you, Rep. Mussman, for standing up for Illinois women and protecting access to medical care without political interference.”

For more information, please contact Rep. Mussman’s constituent service office at 847-923-9104 or StateRepMussman@gmail.com.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – In a push back against attacks across the country on reproductive rights, state Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview, helped to pass the Reproductive Health Act out of the Illinois House. She released the following statement:

“The intent of the Reproductive Health Act is to codify common-law standards developed under Roe v Wade, which reflects the framework we live under now. There has been no shortage of incendiary rhetoric and misinformation disseminated by those who intend to strip women of their rights under Roe v Wade. No woman that I have ever known at any point in my life decides to terminate a healthy pregnancy moments before birth as opponents of choice would have us believe.

“In rare cases where a woman chooses an abortion later in pregnancy it’s because something has gone tragically wrong, and she is faced with a choice that only her and her doctor are qualified to make. Not government. This isn’t about what I believe – it’s about whether women have agency over their own lives to decide what they believe. I trust women to own the self-determination over what happens to their bodies and their lives.

“This isn’t about challenging anyone’s religious convictions. This is about our power to know our own minds, our God, our bodies, our choice. I for one do not need anyone in this room to make it for me. To women who throughout history have been devalued, dismissed and discounted, this is our moment to say that we will not go back.

“Today I was proud to vote yes to protect women’s rights to self-determination over our bodies and our lives.”

Senate Bill 25 passed the House by a vote of 64-50 and now heads to the Senate for consideration.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – As states like Alabama, Georgia and Missouri have passed the country’s most restrictive bans on reproductive health care, state Rep. Karina Villa, D-West Chicago, recently helped to pass the Reproductive Health Act out of the Illinois House.

“We are seeing an unprecedented attack on women’s bodily autonomy, with extreme legislation being passed across the country that has been specially crafted to strip away women’s rights in the hopes of overturning Roe v. Wade,” said Villa. “I am proud to have helped pass the Reproductive Health Act, which will ensure that access to women’s health care services is a fundamental right in Illinois, no matter what Donald Trump and his extreme anti-choice allies in Washington do.”

Villa is sponsoring Senate Bill 25, which creates the Reproductive Health Act, and will protect access to reproductive health care services, including contraception, fertility treatment and abortion in Illinois if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court.

“With the passage of the Reproductive Health Act out of the Illinois House, we are one step closer to ensuring that women’s health care is a fundamental right while Donald Trump and his extreme allies dismantle Roe v. Wade,” said Terry Cosgrove, President and CEO of Personal PAC. “Thank you Rep. Villa for standing up for Illinois women and protecting access to medical care without political interference.”

For more information, contact Villa’s constituent services office at 630-326-9319 or StateRepKarinaVilla@gmail.com.