Gov. JB Pritzker signed two bills protecting reproductive health rights in Illinois on Friday at the University YMCA. He was accompanied by student representatives from the University’s chapter of Planned Parenthood Generation Action.
House Bill 3637 expanded a state shield law protecting all health care providers from sanctions for providing legal services in-state, while also amending the state’s Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
The existing law shielded providers from foreign extraditions related to lawful reproductive care in Illinois. It also prevented the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation from “taking action against practitioners based solely upon a person being disciplined in another state for providing or participating in any health care that is legal in Illinois,” according to Nixon Peabody.
Under the new measure, medications whose previous FDA approval was revoked but are still considered effective by the World Health Organization — primarily mifepristone, the drug often used in medication abortions — will not violate the act. These changes are the first of their kind in the nation, according to a press release from the Governor’s Office.
“Over the past six years, we have made Illinois a safe haven for abortion rights and a national model in women’s health care,” Pritzker said.
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Pritzker openly spoke against the Trump administration, criticizing the president’s attack on reproductive rights for women. On Friday, new leadership in President Trump’s Department of Justice issued an order to curtail prosecutions against people accused of blocking access to reproductive health centers. The DOJ called these cases “weaponization” of law enforcement, according to AP News.
Pritzker emphasized that not only will Illinois continue to protect its citizens, but it will continue to serve as a refuge for those seeking reproductive healthcare from other states.
“Even as Donald Trump’s administration is moving to take (these rights) away as an anti-woman, anti-science, authoritarian administration invades our privacy, Illinois is holding the line, and we are fighting back,” Pritzker said.
House Bill 3709 now requires public colleges and universities to offer medication abortion and contraception options at pre-existing student health centers and on-campus pharmacies, a pitch that originated at the University.
During the 2024 Illinois Student Council elections, PPGA wrote the referendum “Improving Reproductive Healthcare Equity with Medication Abortion Pills on Campus.” It passed with a 74.7% majority representing the voices of 4,743 students supporting the right for on-campus health centers to provide medication abortion pills.
In March, a year after the referendum’s passing at the University, the bill passed in the House and Senate. However, health centers were unable to implement the new policy, regardless of support, without a state requirement.
The Governor’s Office got involved after former PPGA Co-President Emma Darbro spoke at the Illinois Department of Public Health Women and Families Health Conference in October 2024.
“If it weren’t for Governor Pritzker and his team being so involved in the Illinois community, I don’t know what would’ve happened after that,” said Grace Hosey, University alum and former PPGA co-president.
Hosey shared her gratitude for Pritzker taking the time to come to the University and involving her team in the official signing of the bill.
“It was a really cool experience to see that something so small that you and your friends do together at college can turn into an actual statewide law,” Hosey said.
Similarly, Pritzker spoke about the critical role young people play in politics today and his commitment to making their voices heard.
“We should be following young people,” Pritzker said. “I don’t think that if young people were not engaged in that fight that the energy — and I mean that in a double entendre — would be there, to get done what we already have accomplished in the state and so much more that we need to do.”
Pritzker continued to voice his commitment to combating the Trump administration’s efforts to strip away women’s reproductive rights.
“We will not allow idle, ideologically driven decisions to strip away the bodily autonomy of individuals seeking care in Illinois,” Pritzker said.
