Gov. J.B. Pritzker | Facebook
Gov. J.B. Pritzker | Facebook
Gov. J.B. Pritzker calls Florida’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks 'dangerous.'
“This is dangerous. As states across the country continue to restrict access to reproductive healthcare services, Illinois will continue to be a leader in providing access to healthcare for all who need it,” Pritzker said on Twitter.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill on April 14. The ban takes effect July 1 and outlaws abortions in the state after 15 weeks.
“This will represent the most significant protections for life that have been enacted in this state in a generation,” DeSantis said at the bill’s signing.
As a result of conservative states restricting abortions, the number of abortions in Illinois has virtually doubled. According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, 7,534 nonresidents received abortions in Illinois in 2019, compared with 2,970 in 2014 and 5,528 in 2017.
"We will ensure women everywhere have the resources they need to make the best decision for themselves," Pritzker added on Twitter.
Abortion providers in Illinois have been ramping up their capacity in anticipation of those seeking abortions being diverted to the state. Planned Parenthood recently opened new abortion clinics on the state's border with Republican-controlled states. According to the organization, abortion providers are bracing for a five-fold rise in abortions.
“[T]he government has provided evil the cover of darkness in which it thrives," Bishop Thomas John Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield said in a news release after Pritzker signed HB 370 in December, repealing the Parental Notice of Abortion Act. "The devil desires darkness and despises the light. It is striking how much this legislation does to provide cover, secrecy, and darkness over evil deeds.”
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