Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, signed legislation into law on Friday requiring all public colleges and universities in the state to dispense abortion pills to students.
The bill amended the state’s Public Higher Education Act to include a requirement for all institutions of higher education in the state that offer student health services to employ a medical professional capable of prescribing abortion pills and to provide the pills on campus if the school has a pharmacy beginning in the current 2025-2026 academic year. The institutions must also openly display abortion options on the school’s healthcare website and must refer students to outside abortion providers if the institution is incapable of providing the service.
The legislation also amended the definition of emergency contraception to remove the necessity of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval and recommended 72-hour timeframe.
“Six years ago, I made a promise to the women of this state: As governor, I will ensure that your medical decisions will be your own,” Pritzker said in a statement. “I’m proud to be taking these steps, but I will not rest on this. Because we know that anti-choice extremists won’t. We will continue to activate and protest and march and deliver until every woman in this state gets the health care she deserves.”
Pritzker signed an additional bill at the same time expanding protections and removing accountability for healthcare providers who provide services such as abortions to residents of states in which the act is illegal. The bill also states that any drug that loses its FDA approval following Jan. 1, 2025, will not be considered adulterated or misbranded if the World Health Organization still recommends the drug’s use.
Questions around the safety of abortion pills have been circulating in recent years, leading the Trump administration to place the drugs under investigation in July. Several cases of injuries and even death due to the pill have been brought to light, and the Daily Caller News Foundation even revealed just how easy it is to access the pills without any medical oversight, even in states where the drug is illegal, thanks to mail-order services.
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