The state of Illinois recently passed House Bill 40, legislation that will protect the legal right to abortion in Illinois and expands abortion access for low-income women—as long as Governor Bruce Rauner doesn’t veto the bill. This week, we’re taking action to tell Governor Rauner to stand with Illinois women and support their right to abortion care, regardless of their income or where they get insurance—and we’ll be sharing stories old and new from Illinoisans about why abortion access matter to them. Find out more about what you can do to support the fight for HB 40: Speak Out for Illinois Abortion Access.

Meg was 19 when she called my office after finding out she was pregnant. For Meg, this was not the right time—she was starting a new job and had a medical condition that required close care from a specialist.  But beyond anything, she was not ready to be a mother.  Although she lived about 2 hours from Chicago, she had no other doctors willing to do her abortion.  Her medical condition required that she be seen in a hospital setting, and she needed to get her doctor’s referral to see me.  After multiple weeks of trying to get her doctor to send the referral and show that her medical condition made her pregnancy more risky. She then arrived in my office at 16 weeks pregnant having a more complicated procedure that could have been done when she initially called 1 month prior.  If Meg didn’t have insurance coverage, she would still be pregnant.