Reproductive rights are at stake this election, and Illinois must continue the fight

In 2016, Donald Trump exclaimed: “There must be some form of punishment” for a woman receiving abortion care. Six years later, the Supreme Court, dominated by right-wing Trump appointees, gave state politicians the power to decide what kind of health care you can access based on where you live. Since then, 21 states have banned or severely restricted abortion.

When Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022 in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, I immediately flew to Washington, DC, to strategize with Vice President Kamala Harris and a group of Democratic attorneys general. We discussed the tools we could use to counter Republicans’ vicious attacks on reproductive freedom. Harris, himself a former attorney general, thought ahead and brought us together to plan the post-Dobbs fight against these harmful state policies. Since then, I am proud to have championed and championed multiple protections for patients and healthcare providers in Illinois.

Now that Illinois is considered a “deep blue” state, many residents think we have nothing to worry about when it comes to protecting reproductive justice. The reality is that Illinois must continually defend the policies we put in place to preserve reproductive freedom. And if Trump is re-elected, Illinois will certainly bear the burden of waging more legal battles against challengers to reproductive freedom.

Our state’s medical providers have stepped up to serve the significant influx of patients traveling to Illinois for essential care. At the same time, our state legislature, with legal guidance and advocacy from my office, has taken action to enact comprehensive laws that expand and protect reproductive health care access and coverage. While Trump and the anti-abortion judges he proudly appointed rolled back reproductive rights, Illinois stood firm.

That’s why my job as Illinois Attorney General is so important. My office has fiercely defended insurance coverage of abortion services and access to medication abortion, while helping to build safeguards to meet increased demand for care, protect patients and reproductive health care providers, and ensure care guarantee when a patient’s health or life is at stake. .

Women risk dying

We don’t know the outcome of the presidential election yet, but we do know exactly what Trump and his administration will do with reproductive services if he is elected. He will cut off access to mifepristone, the most commonly used abortion method, which is crucial for patients living far from other forms of care.

He will use his power to investigate and punish patients and doctors who seek and provide abortion care. And dangerously, MAGA extremists won’t stop at abortion.

The Trump administration will come after access to contraception, gender-affirming care, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, and assisted reproductive technology. Trump’s actions have forced women – even those planning to delay their pregnancies – to travel long distances for life-saving treatment, causing further harm and even death. Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, claim to be pro-family, yet they are okay with letting mothers die after being denied critical emergency care.

As long as I serve as Attorney General of Illinois, I pledge to continue my fight for expanded access to health care – including abortion, miscarriage treatment, fertility treatments, emergency care, medication abortion, and gender-affirming care. I will ensure that Illinois continues to thrive as a haven for individuals seeking necessary care, even as Republican extremists challenge our laws on multiple fronts.

My job is to defend our state’s laws in court against abortion opponents, and I am committed to strengthening personal freedoms no matter who becomes president in November.

Our freedoms are at stake no matter where we live. These are exciting elections. And the battle is not over yet.

Kwame Raoul is the attorney general of Illinois

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