The Work

Health Care Right of Conscience Act

2015

The Health Care Right of Conscience Act ensures that if a health care provider refuses to provide care because of a conscience-based objection or religious belief, they are still required to provide patients with the information they need to make an informed medical decision.

Illinois Contraceptive Coverage Act

2016

The Contraceptive Coverage Act expands access to the full range of contraceptive care by requiring insurance companies to cover all forms of contraception and care (including voluntary sterilization) with no cost sharing for patients.

HB40: Medicaid coverage for abortion and repeal of state “trigger law”

2017

Through HB40, Illinois removed the dangerous “trigger law” from 1975 and ensured that abortion would remain legal when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Simultaneously, HB40 also required Medicaid and state employee health plans to cover abortion care, dramatically expanding abortion access in Illinois.

Reproductive Health Act

2019

The Reproductive Health Act (RHA) enshrined the right to abortion and all reproductive health care into state law. The RHA ensures that every person in Illinois has the fundamental right to make individual decisions about their own reproductive health, including the right to access contraception, sterilization, abortion, and other forms of maternal and pregnancy care.

Repeal of Parental Notice of Abortion Act

2021

The Parental Notice of Abortion Act (PNA) was a parental involvement law that forced young people to involve an adult family member or the judicial system in order to access abortion care. Data shows that young people who feel safe to do so will involve a trusted adult in seeking out abortion care. Forced parental involvement impacts those who are already in precarious or dangerous situations. The repeal of PNA removed a harmful barrier to abortion care and marked an enormous victory for abortion access in Illinois as the first state to legislatively repeal a parental involvement law.

State, City, County budget line items

2022-present

Illinois is the only state that provides funding for abortion services and wraparound support at the state, county, and city levels. This funding goes towards appointment costs and logistical expenses like transportation, childcare, and lodging. By directly funding our abortion care infrastructure, the three largest units of government in Illinois address the very real barriers that abortion patients face, especially those already on the margins.

Shield law protections

2023

Following the Dobbs decision in 2022, as states across the country continued to pass dangerous restrictions on abortion, we worked with our legislative and advocacy partners to protect patients, providers, and those assisting them from aggressive litigation and other legal threats from states that have restricted and even criminalized abortion (as well as gender-affirming care and other forms of reproductive health care). This law also expands access to care in Illinois by expanding the forms of care that birth centers can provide, clarifying the ability of advanced practice clinicians to provide abortion care, and expanding over-the-counter pharmacy access to birth control.

Birth Equity Initiative

2024

Requires private insurers in Illinois to cover abortions and other pregnancy-related care with no extra cost to the patient in the form of copays and deductibles. This was a groundbreaking piece of legislation in that it placed abortion within the full spectrum of reproductive care. The larger Birth Equity Initiative invested $15 million to close the Black maternal mortality gap by funding programs that support birth workers, capital dollars for community birth centers, and a diaper equity pilot program.