Dupage Policy Journal

Rep. Janet Yang Rohr (D-Naperville) recently voted to approve a resolution declaring that Roe v. Wade was decided correctly and should not be overturned.

“I voted to make sure Illinois supports Roe v. Wade so that Illinoisans have access to the safe, legal reproductive health care they need,” Rohr wrote on Facebook.

Abortion in Illinois will not be illegal or restricted even if Roe v. Wade is overturned, the Chicago Tribune reported. Although some states, such as Idaho and Utah, have “trigger laws” that would immediately ban abortion if Roe is overturned, Illinois does not.

Illinois has some of most lax abortion laws in the country. Thousands of women from different states come to Illinois for abortions every year. In 2020, more than 36,000 Illinois women had abortions, while almost 10,000 out-of-state women traveled to Illinois for abortions.

Doctors Without Border wrote unsafe abortions are “one of the five leading causes of maternal mortality.”

“Most people don’t realize that carrying a pregnancy to term is 14 times more dangerous than an early legal abortion,” Cara Heuser wrote in a column in Scientific American. “While we should work to reduce the maternal mortality rate, especially among women of color, the fact is that being pregnant (or being forced to seek an unsafe or illegal abortion) is always going to be riskier than a safely performed abortion.”

Five years ago, Illinois lawmakers passed legislation to guarantee that abortion remains legal in the state if Roe v. Wade is overturned, CBS 2 reported. Amy Whitaker of Planned Parenthood of Illinois said that the organization is preparing to perform more abortions if the Supreme Court decides to overturn Roe v. Wade.

“Living in a country the size of the United States, and the size of the individual states, where a woman cannot access abortion care, will end up with maternal death. There is no question about that,” Dr. Peter Boylan, a retired senior OB/GYN in Ireland, said on CBS News. “Women will die as a consequence of this.”

Rohr is a co-sponsor of House Resolution 0790, “Support Roe V. Wade.” The resolution “declares the belief” that Roe v. Wade was decided correctly and should not be overturned.