SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Senate passed the Reproductive Health Act last Friday night before the end of the session. The bill, the most progressive reproductive health bill in the country, goes to the governor to be signed.
Capitol News Illinois reported that the bill passed after more than 80 minutes of debate. The bill repeals abortion restrictions in Illinois and sets abortion access as a right, in direct opposition to a raft of anti-choice bills passed across the country.
Sen. Melinda Bush, a Democrat from Grayslake and the bill’s sponsor in that chamber, said she hopes passage of the legislation will make the state “a beacon for the country.”
“I’m so proud that Illinois is standing up and saying, we’re not going back, we’re going to continue to fight and we’re going to make sure that women are equal here. Their reproductive rights are part of that,” she said.
In a statement, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he will sign the measure.
“In Illinois, we trust women to make the most personal and fundamental decisions of their lives — and now, that will be the law of the land, even as it’s under threat in other states,” he said.
Pritzker was on the Senate floor after the vote, congratulating and hugging senators who pushed the bill.
Chicago Democratic Rep. Kelly Cassidy, the initiative’s sponsor in the House, was on the floor during the debate. In the back of the chamber were a handful of other Democratic representatives who supported the legislation — they stood and joined hands during Bush’s closing remarks.
“That was amazing to have them all over here — I was there when it passed in the House — because it was so important to all of us,” Bush said. “To have that amazing camaraderie and support and really love for each other; I’m just so proud of all these amazing women. It really felt like a sisterhood.”
The measure received 34 Democratic yes votes. Twenty senators voted no, including lone Democrat, Bunker Hill Democrat Andy Manar. Three Democrats voted present.
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