Pritzker vows to make Illinois ‘most progressive state’ on abortion rights
Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday signed an executive order aimed at ensuring the state is properly enforcing a politically divisive law that allows for the taxpayer funding of abortions — saying he was “concerned” former Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration wasn’t “making sure that it was enforced for state government employees.”
The move prompted one Republican legislator to accuse Pritzker of running a “highly politicized and left-wing administration.”
Pritzker signed the executive order at a Planned Parenthood of Illinois office in Chicago, while also commemorating the 46th anniversary of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which effectively legalized abortion across the nation. Pritzker said his order will instruct the Illinois Department of Central Management and Services to make sure all state insurance plans are fully compliant with the law by July 1.
“This order will make it clear that state employees receiving governmentfunded health insurance have the same rights to control their bodies and make their own health care decisions as everyone else in the state,” Pritzker said, while also vowing that Illinois “will be the most progressive state in the nation when it comes to guaranteeing women’s reproductive rights.”
Since taking office last week, the governor has reinstated step raises for state union workers and signed a gun dealer licensing bill — both actions he had vowed during his lengthy campaign and both movements opposed by Rauner’s administration.
Rauner took plenty of political heat for signing House Bill 40 in September 2017. The law ensures abortion remains legal in Illinois even if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, while also allowing women with Medicaid and state employee health insurance to use their coverage for abortions.
Rauner’s decision to sign the bill angered the state’s conservatives and spawned a primary challenge from former state Rep. Jeanne Ives of Wheaton, who lost by just 4 percentage points.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois said that within the past month, some state employees had received notices that abortion is now covered under their plan. The group says Rauner’s administration “didn’t really prioritize fully implementing and creating the mechanics for people to be able to easily access abortion through Medicaid.”
“We were concerned and are concerned that the leadership that Gov. Rauner had in place wasn’t in fact making sure that it was enforced for state government employees,” Pritzker said.
State Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, has always opposed HB40. McSweeney said Pritzker has “rubbed HB40 in the face of conservatives by saying he’s actually going to expand it even more.”
“My concern is he claims he wants to be bipartisan but he takes on highly inflammatory issues like taxpayer funding of abortions and expansion . . . and also the implied threat to opposition of the progressive tax,” McSweeney said. “I don’t see much bipartisanship. It looks like a highly politicized and left-wing administration to me.”