Harris urges Illinois voters to protect abortion rights in midterm elections

In a visit to Chicago, Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday urged Democrats to fight for abortion rights at the ballot box, capping a polarizing week that included a national abortion ban proposal — and an abortion ban in neighboring Indiana. 

“We must agree that the women of America have the ability to exercise their own judgment in making decisions about their own body, and the government should not be making that decision for her,” Harris said at the University of Illinois Chicago.

In her fourth trip to Illinois since taking office, the vice president warned that reproductive rights continue to be under assault across the nation. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina on Tuesday introduced legislation that would ban abortions at 15 weeks, with room for states to enact even stricter laws. 

And Indiana’s abortion ban went into effect on Thursday, further hindering abortion care resources in Illinois, which remains a safe haven for abortions in the Midwest. 

Harris told a small group in Chicago that the U.S. Supreme Court reversal of Roe v. Wade earlier this year requires everyone to get off the sidelines.

“We are, in the wake of that decision, facing a health care crisis in America that requires us all to speak up and do everything we can to ensure that we will fight to protect a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body,” Harris said at a UIC round table discussion with elected officials, medical providers and students.  

Harris called Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker a “national leader” in the fight to protect reproductive rights. She also urged voters to protect their rights by electing Democrats in November. 

“Elections matter. We have a midterm coming up in 53 days. Who your governor is matters. Whether they’re going to protect these rights, and support these rights, to freedom and liberty, it matters,” Harris said. “Who’s your attorney general matters, whether they are going to protect and defend the principles ingrained in the Constitution of the United States. That matters.”

Besides the race for governor, in which Pritzker faces Republican state Sen. Darren Bailey, who is staunchly anti-abortion, there are several other key races in Illinois that could have a major impact on abortion rights.

While Democrats have controlled the state Supreme Court since 1969, Republicans are aiming to change that with two seats on the ballot this November. Republican victories could change the court — where Democrats hold a 4-3 majority — at a high-stakes time,

At the round table, Pritzker criticized the Indiana abortion ban, saying it’s a misguided decision that says “women are not to be trusted to make decisions about their own health care.”

“It’s despicable. It’s misogynistic, and it’s deadly,” Pritzker said. “There’s no doubt that our nation is headed down a dangerous spiral, one where a radical few dictate who does and doesn’t deserve rights. But here in Illinois, we will not go backwards.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she will be introducing a budget in the coming weeks and vowed to “substantially expand our financial commitment to make sure that every single one of these providers has the resources that they need.” She said the city also wants to help provide resources for women coming into Illinois for abortions.

Lightfoot likened Republican states potentially criminalizing women who travel to other states for abortion services to fugitive slave laws. 

“Well, not here, not now,” Lightfoot said. “Not in Chicago.”

The Chicago mayor already issued an executive order that barred any city agency, including the police department, from cooperating in any way with states that are seeking criminalization women seeking abortions, or providers. 

Allison Cowett, medical director for Family Planning Associates on the West Side of Chicago said the number of second trimester abortions perform at the clinic has increased by 95% since the reversal of Roe v. Wade. 

Harris is also scheduled to speak at a UIC rally, organized by Pritzker’s reelection campaign, at 4 p.m.