Report shows spike in Illinois abortions post-Dobbs

In the first full year after after SCOTUS overturned Roe, Illinois saw a sharp increase in abortions. While some work to see the trend continue, some in Illinois are finding a better way forward.

Dec 08, 2023

Illinois has marked a grim milestone in 2023. In a report compiled and released this fall by the Society of Family Planning, Illinois saw a spike in abortions amounting to 1,800 more abortions per month in the year following the Dobbs ruling than the state saw prior to the ruling.

As we’ve reported, the state has moved far in the direction of abortion extremism following the Supreme Court’s landmark decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Legislation passed by the state’s supermajority Democratic Party contingent in the state legislature delivered on promises by the state’s governor, J.B. Pritzker, and then-Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot, to make the state a “safe haven” for abortion.

Already a heavily abortion-friendly state, in the wake of the Dobbs decision, the state passed legislation that would, among other things:

Allow the attorney general to investigate and request the court to impose fines to sidewalk counselors and unlicensed crisis pregnancy centers for providing pregnancy-related services.
Mandate a two-hour continuing education course about abortion for all health care workers involved in maternity care and other reproductive health care.
Allow Advanced Practice Registered Nurses and Physician Assistants to perform surgical abortions and aspiration abortions not requiring general anesthesia.
Provide that no person can be found civilly liable for the wrongful death of a fetus caused by an abortion, except for when a fetus is live-born but subsequently dies.
Mandate that public colleges and universities, including community colleges, must make emergency contraception accessible for purchase in at least one vending machine on each campus.
Allow birth centers, which have been places where mothers can give birth, to also provide abortions.
Require abortifacients to be covered at no-cost under insurance plans not otherwise exempt from state insurance law mandates.
Ensure there is no cause of action against a licensed health care professional for the wrongful death of a person caused by an abortion where abortion is permitted by law and consent was given.
Protect information about abortion from subpoenas and orders for testimony issued in other states.

Illinois shares a border with or is close to a number of states that have enacted abortion restrictions, including Missouri, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee.

Radical abortion groups like Shout Your Abortion have joined abortion clinics statewide in blanketing the state and neighboring states with pro-abortion billboards touting Illinois’ lack of abortion restrictions and welcoming women from neighboring states seeking abortions. Shout Your Abortion has specifically targeted the I-55 corridor, the main route into the state from St. Louis, Missouri, Memphis, Tennessee, and as far south as Mississippi and Louisiana.

Another group, Hey Jane, has launched a multi-state billboard campaign telling women who can get to Illinois that the group can get them “safe abortion care”. The group has placed billboards in Indiana and Missouri promoting travel to Illinois for abortion services.

Thankfully, some in the state are working to help build a better future for mothers in the midst of crisis pregnancies. Among them include the Southside Life House, which aims to become the first maternity home to provide support for South Side pregnant women and their families.

As our own Pastor Chris Butler wrote during his race for Congress in 2022, we need to make Illinois a place where women come not to have abortions, but to have babies.

As the first full year post-Dobbs draws to a close, the state’s marked increase in abortions is a somber reminder that the work to build a culture of life is by no means over with the ending of a half century of Roe.

We need a better way forward. While groups like Hey Jane and Shout Your Abortion seek to make Illinois a destination for death, I’m heartened that homegrown groups like the Southside Life House are working to make the state a place that promotes life for mothers and their babies.

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