By ANDREW HENSEL for the Illinois Radio Network
WASHINGTON, D.C. (IRN) — Illinois’ lieutenant governor is asking the federal government for assistance for an expected increase in the number of out-of-state residents seeking abortions in the Land of Lincoln.
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing Tuesday to discuss the impact from the U.S. Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Last month, the court decided to give the ability to legislate issues around abortion back to individual states. Tuesday, Senators heard testimony from a variety of individuals.
Illinois Lt. Gov. Julianna Stratton appeared before the committee and asked for more federal help for the state as she expects more people will come to Illinois to terminate a pregnancy.
“The entire staff in our state’s abortion clinics are fielding phone calls for appointments because the number of out-of-state patients has doubled since Roe v. Wade was overturned,” Stratton said. “That is on top of the nearly 10,000 women who came to Illinois seeking abortion care.”
More than 9,600 out-of-state residents terminated their pregnancies in Illinois in 2020, something that’s expected to increase as other state restrict access to the procedure.
Stratton said she worries about the safety of all involved.
“It’s not just the patients, it’s also the abortion care providers, that also could potentially risk that same sort of criminalization,” Stratton said. “So we are working with our state’s leaders, are gathering to talk about how we can continue to expand and further enshrine reproductive rights into state law because again.”
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has called for Illinois state lawmakers to hold a special session to codify women’s rights, but no date has been set.
During Tuesday’s committee hearing, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told witnesses the court’s decision returns the issue back to more accountable state lawmakers.
“If you disagree with the abortion laws in your state, you have an outlet,” Cruz said. “You are not forced to live under the rule of unelected judges operating as philosopher kings and decreeing for 330 million Americans.”
Cruz called abortion a “tragedy.”
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, criticized the court’s decision.
“This radical regressive vision for America is eroding the court’s institutional integrity,” Durbin said. “This comes after [Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY] blocked President [Barack] Obama’s right to fill the Supreme Court vacancy.”
