5533 N Broadway
Chicago, Illinois 60640
773-784-2002
Fax: 773-784-2060
Correo electrónico: repcassidy@gmail.com
Oficina de distrito:
Salud reproductiva
Proteger el acceso a la atención de la salud reproductiva fue una de mis primeras entradas al activismo. He servido como acompañante de clínica y he trabajado con líderes a nivel local, estatal y federal para proteger la elección durante décadas. Patrociné la Ley de Salud Reproductiva y copatrociné activamente tanto del Proyecto de Ley 40 de la Cámara de Representantes como de la derogación de la Ley de Aviso de Aborto a los Padres. Este verano, me complació que el orador Welch me pidiera que dirigiera el grupo de trabajo encargado de elaborar una legislación que respondiera a los problemas planteados por nuestro estado, pacientes y proveedores a la luz de la caída de Roe v Wade con la publicación de la decisión de Dobbs. En esta sección, proporcionaremos antecedentes sobre cómo esperamos que esta decisión nos afecte aquí en Illinois y actualizaciones a medida que el grupo de trabajo se prepara para la sesión.
Just Security created a Litigation Tracker, where you can track legal challenges against the Trump Administration.
¿Dónde es legal el aborto en los Estados Unidos?
In June of 2022, the Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending the right to abortion in the United States that had been formerly accepted as precedent for decades prior. This decision came in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case. The ruling gave decision-making power, in terms of the right to an abortion, to each individual state. Some states enforced total bans on abortion, while others enforced bans at very early stages of pregnancy still making seeking abortions very difficult. In Illinois, your right to an abortion is still currently safe. Scroll down to the next section for more information on abortion protections in Illinois.
A continuación, encontrará un mapa codificado por colores que refleja el estado actual de la ley del aborto en los estados de todo el país. Este mapa se seguirá actualizando.
Abortion Law in Illinois
The Reproductive Health Act (2019)
In June of 2019, the JB Pritzker signed the Illinois General Assembly’s Reproductive Health Act into law, enshrining the right to choose into law for the State of Illinois. The Reproductive Health Act (RHA) was created so that Illinoisan’s right to an abortion did not rely on the fate of Roe v. Wade, given an increasingly conservative Supreme Court taking shape–Roe then falling only three years later.
The RHA establishes the right to make individual decisions about reproductive health care, including contraception, abortion, and maternity care. It also ensures regulations reflect current medical standards and requires private health insurance plans in Illinois to cover abortion like they do other pregnancy-related care. For more information about the RHA, you can visit the ACLU’s website.
“While all around us opponents are using misinformation and misogyny to justify attacks on bodily autonomy, I'm proud that here in Illinois, we've declared unequivocally that we trust patients and doctors to make these decisions safely and privately,” said Representative Cassidy, the House sponsor of the RHA after its passing.
Click on the image below to see an At A Glance One-Pager of abortion law in Illinois provided by the ACLU.
The Dobbs Working Group
When the Dobbs decision was issued, Representative Cassidy was recognized as a leader in Illinois reproductive health by the Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, Emmanuel “Chris” Welch, through his request that she lead a working group dedicated to ensuring that Illinois crafts legislation that adequately responds to the consequences of the ruling. Since its formation in 2022, Representative Cassidy Chairs the Reproductive Health and the Dobb’s Decision Working Group. You can read Representative Cassidy’s original Statement regarding the forming of the Working group from July 25, 2022 below.
The members of the Dobbs Working Group are as follows:
Representative Cassidy (Chair)
Representative Dagmara Avelar
Representative Mary Beth Canty
Representative Terra Costa Howard
Representative Margaret Croke
Representative Kimberly Du Buclet
Representative Jehan Gordon-Booth
Representative Lilian Jimenez
Representative Gregg Johnson
Representative Anna Moeller
Representative Yolonda Morris
Representative Kevin Olickal
Representative Ann Williams
Hemos estado ocupados las últimas dos semanas en nuestro grupo de trabajo, discutiendo más temas clave que se relacionan con la protección y la atención del aborto. La semana pasada, discutimos las protecciones contra el aborto para quienes son indocumentados y quienes experimentan violencia doméstica y los desafíos separados que enfrentan ambos grupos de personas. Estas personas pueden continuar refugiándose en Illinois. También discutimos las realidades y los posibles problemas futuros con respecto a los pacientes y las clínicas de infertilidad, haciendo una lluvia de ideas sobre cómo podemos protegerlos y continuar el acceso a tratamientos como la FIV para aquellos que experimentan infertilidad mientras trabajan para construir su familia._cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b- 136malo5cf58d_
Esta semana, nos tomamos el tiempo para discutir la mortalidad materna. Nos reunimos con organizaciones y expertos en el campo de la atención médica e intercambiamos ideas sobre lo que podemos hacer como cuerpo legislativo estatal para abordar un aumento predecible en la mortalidad materna a medida que entran en vigencia más prohibiciones del aborto.
La próxima semana, nos centraremos en los problemas que rodean a la comunidad LGBTQ+ y trabajaremos para proteger los derechos que podrían ser el próximo objetivo en una era posterior a Roe.
En otras noticias sobre el acceso al aborto, la Corte Suprema de Michigan ordenó que se agregara a la boleta electoral de las elecciones generales de noviembre una medida de votación de iniciativa ciudadana que busca agregar el derecho al aborto a la constitución estatal en un fallo de 5-2. La medida establecería un "derecho individual a la libertad reproductiva, incluido el derecho a tomar y ejecutar todas las decisiones sobre el embarazo".
Hemos visto resultados favorables cuando el aborto ha estado en la boleta antes, como en el caso de Votantes de Kansas que deciden rechazar una enmienda que haría ilegal el aborto en su estado. Podemos mantener la esperanza de que esto termine en un resultado positivo.
Para obtener más información sobre el fallo de Michigan, lea aquí.
_cc781905-5cde-3194 -bb3b-136bad5cf58d_ _cc781905 -5cde-3194-bb3b-136bad5cf58d_ _cc781905-5cde-3194- bb3b-136bad5cf58d_ ¿Qué es un centro de embarazo en crisis?
Nuestro grupo de trabajo está estudiando la prevalencia de los centros de embarazo en crisis. Los centros de embarazo en crisis (también llamados CPC o clínicas falsas) son clínicas o camionetas móviles que parecen centros de salud reales, pero tienen la intención de presionar o engañar a las personas para que no aborten. Estas clínicas no brindan abortos ni brindan siempre datos precisos sobre la salud sexual y las opciones de embarazo de una mujer. A menudo, los centros de embarazo en crisis no son instalaciones médicas con licencia ni cuentan con profesionales con licencia y ofrecen ecografías realizadas por personal sin licencia. Hay más de 90 CPC en Illinois. A partir de 2020, hay más de 2500 CPC en todo el país. Los CPC superan en número a las clínicas de aborto en todo el país en un promedio de más de 3 a 1. Estamos trabajando en una legislación basada en lo que hemos escuchado de grupos de apoyo práctico y proveedores para abordar mejor este problema. También estamos notificando a las principales plataformas de búsqueda como Google sobre este problema, ya que muchas búsquedas de personas que buscan abortos se envían a sitios de CPC que son lugares que las personas que necesitan servicios de aborto deben evitar. Abajo hay un mapa que mi Jefe de Gabinete, Torrence Gardner, armó para resaltar cuántos proveedores de servicios de aborto tenemos en relación con los CPC. Los íconos morados son los proveedores de servicios de aborto y los puntos rojos son los CPC. Siéntase libre de usar este mapa como una forma de encontrar servicios de aborto.
Si vives específicamente en Chicago y conoces a alguien que busca apoyo y servicios de salud reproductiva, los residentes pueden visitar chicago.gov/abortioncare para recursos confiables e información sobre opciones de embarazo y cómo encontrar servicios. CDPH aloja a directorio de comunidades digitales como parte de su iniciativa OneChiFam. Cualquiera puede usar este directorio para buscar por código postal, categoría o palabra clave.
Know Your Reproductive Rights in Illinois
Below you will find some additional crucial information regarding knowing your reproductive rights provided by the ACLU. You can find more information on their website here.
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In Illinois you have the fundamental right to make decisions about your reproductive health care. You have that right regardless of age, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, sexual behavior, class, immigration status, race, ethnicity, language ability, or disability status. You also have that fundamental right even if you are in State custody, control, or supervision including in jail, prison or under DCFS custody.
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You have the right to keep your abortion confidential regardless of how old you are.
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If you are under 18, a clinic is not required by law to contact a parent or legal guardian if you are seeking abortion care services. Who you tell about your abortion is entirely up to you.
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Read more about the repeal of the Parental Notification Act (PNA), which Representative Cassidy is responsible for helping pass, here.
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Illinois Medicaid and most private health insurance plans are required to cover abortion care. If you have an Illinois based private insurance plan, use this chart to see if abortion care is covered. There are also private organizations that may be able to help you with abortion costs. Some clinics may also provide financial assistance.
Click on the image below to see ACLU's Know Your Rights Abortion in Illinois document.
Finding Reproductive Care
If you live in Chicago and you or someone you know is seeking reproductive health care support and services, visit chicago.gov/abortioncare for trusted resources and information about pregnancy options and how to find services.
Planned Parenthood Illinois - Planned Parenthood provides abortion services, birth control, emergency contraception, STI testing/treatment/vaccines, HIV services, PrEP prevention, Gender-Affirming Care, Men’s Health Services, Sexual health Education, Pregnancy Testing and Services, Reproductive Health Services, Miscarriage Management, and more.
Chicago Abortion Fund - The Chicago Abortion Fund (CAF) offers abortion funding and travel support to residents of or people traveling to Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, and Arkansas to get abortion care as capacity allows.
Midwest Access Coalition - Midwest Access Coalition (MAC) provides assistance with travel, lodging, food, and more for those seeking abortions traveling to, from or within the Midwest.
National Network of Abortion Funds - The National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF) is a network of nearly 100 abortion funds to assist in providing financial support for those seeking care.
National Abortion Hotline - The National Abortion Hotline (1-800-772-9100) is the largest national, toll-free, multi-lingual Hotline for abortion provider information and financial assistance. They provide callers with confidential consultations, information on abortion providers, case management services, and limited financial assistance for cost of care and travel-related expenses. The Hotline is free and offers services to everyone, regardless of the situation.
What is a Crisis Pregnancy Center?
Since the Dobbs decision, there has been an uptick in the prevalence of crisis pregnancy centers. Crisis pregnancy centers (called CPCs or fake clinics) are clinics or mobile vans that look like real health centers but have agendas to pressure or mislead people from getting an abortion. These clinics do not provide abortions and give inaccurate facts about sexual health and a woman's pregnancy options. Often crisis pregnancy centers are not licensed medical facilities, staffed by licensed professionals, or offer ultrasounds by unlicensed personnel. There are 90+ CPCs in Illinois. As of 2024, there are 2,633 CPCs nationwide.
You can visit crisispregnancycentermap.com to view an interactive map of CPCs nationwide. This can also help you verify that any care you are seeking is genuine before visiting a clinic and attending your appointments.
Click on the image above to go to the Interactive CPC Map.
¿Cuál es la actualización?
Updates at the Federal Level
For Reproductive Health-related updates at the Federal level, please continue to come back to this section for updates. You will find a list of current updates below with accompanying dates and articles.
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Government Reproductive Health Website is Shut Down - January 20, 2025
The Federal Government website reproductiverights.gov was taken down the night of Trump’s Inauguration. The website, originally launched in 2022 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provided information regarding reproductive healthcare, access to abortion services, and a Know-Your-Rights patient fact sheet. It also provided information about which services, medications, screenings, and treatments that most employer-based and private health insurance plans are required to cover.
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Trump Pardons Violators of the FACE Act - January 23, 2025
President Trump announced that he would be pardoning several people convicted of blockading abortion clinic entrances. Those convicted violated the FACE Act, a federal law passed in 1994, which was designed to protect patients, providers, and clinics from violence.
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President Trump Reinstates Anti-Abortion “Mexico City Rule” - January 24, 2025
President Trump reinstated a longstanding anti-abortion policy, favored by Republicans, known as the “Mexico City Rule.” This policy bars federal funding from going to any overseas nongovernmental organization that performs or promotes abortions. Federal law already bans using taxpayer dollars to support abortion services abroad, but the use of blocking foreign aid in this manner was originally started by President Ronald Reagan in 1984. In the years since, the policy has been revoked and reenacted, back and forth, depending on the administration. The policy has been in effect for 21 of the past 40 years.
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SCOTUS Sets Date to Hear Medicaid/Planned Parenthood Case - February 10, 2025 - ONGOING
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Kerr v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic on April 2nd. This case will decide if Planned Parenthood can continue to use Medicaid coverage for nonabortion-related services. Abortion services are already not covered by Medicaid, unless in the cases of rape, incest, or threats to the life of the pregnant person, due to the Hyde Amendment. President Trump signed an Executive Order his fourth day into office called “Enforcing the Hyde Amendment,” although it is already established law. This is not the first time Planned Parenthood has been targeted in this type of case. We will continue to monitor this situation.
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New York Doctor, Louisiana Extradition, Abortion Pill Case - February 13, 2025 - ONGOING
A New York doctor has been indicted by a Louisiana grand jury for shipping abortion medication to a teen patient via telehealth. Louisiana officials have since sent out a warrant for the doctor’s extradition, which Governor Kathy Hochul of New York has rejected to comply with. Governor Hochul has also since signed new legislation allowing abortion providers to use the names of their practices instead of their own names on prescription labels, adding a new extra layer of protection for doctors.
The doctor in question has also been the target of Texas’ Attorney General for allegedly sending abortion pills to Texas, but was not criminally charged in that instance.
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SCOTUS Declined to Hear Cases, Protecting Buffer Zones - February 24, 2025
In some good news, the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear two cases regarding challenges to buffer zone laws that were designed to keep patients and reproductive health clinics safe. This marks a huge win for abortion-related precedent, stemming from the 2000 SCOTUS case, Hill v. Colorado.
The first case, in our home state, was Coalition Life v. City of Carbondale, Illinois (opposition). Coalition Life, a St. Louis-based anti-abortion group, sued the city of Carbondale stating that their buffer zone ordinance violated the group’s First Amendment right to provide “sidewalk counseling” to patients seeking care at the town’s local clinics. The city has since rescinded their buffer zone ordinance, but were taken to the Supreme Court anyways in an effort to overturn the Hill decision. In Justice Clarence Thomas' dissent, he states, “I would have taken this opportunity to explicitly overrule Hill.”
The second case, Jeryl Turco v. City of Englewood, New Jersey, made similar arguments.
Updates at the State Level
To track the status of a bill in the Illinois General Assembly, you can visit ilga.gov. We will be updating this section with Reproductive Health-related bills that the Dobbs Working Group Members are working on to keep track of throughout this legislative session.
This bill will allow those who attack healthcare clinics that provide reproductive healthcare to be charged with an act of terrorism.
This bill creates the Health Care Transparency Act, which requires the Department of Public Health to disclose what reproductive health care services, LGBTQ health care services, and end-of-life health care services that are or may be subject to denial of care for nonmedical reasons.
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HB3494 - Rep. Williams
This bill creates the Protect Health Data Privacy Act, which works to create protections around stored healthcare data. The bill states that a regulated entity shall not collect, share, or store health data, except in specified circumstances. The bill also makes it unlawful for any person to sell or offer to sell health data concerning an individual without first obtaining valid authorization from the individual.
This bill works to add to Illinois’ Shield Law by making sure every license in the medical practice is protected.
This bill requires contraception and medication abortion access for students on public university campuses.
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HB3712 - Rep. Williams
This bill creates the Privacy Protections for Location Information Derived from Electronic Devices Act, working to put in protections for an individual’s location information.
Additional Resources
A continuación, encontrará algunos paquetes informativos útiles de la Oficina del Fiscal General de Illinois. Haga clic en cada imagen para ver una versión ampliada en PDF que puede descargar.
Protección de la información personal
Conozca sus derechos reproductivos
