The House voted 67-39 to advance House Bill 3637, which would put new protections in state law to safeguard health care licenses for providers who offer abortion cares. It also guarantees continued access to abortion medication even if the medication’s approval is rescinded by the federal Food and Drug Administration.

Chicago-area abortion providers and abortion fund groups have already seen more people from Wisconsin seeking abortions since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022.

The Supreme Court refused Monday to hear a pair of cases from abortion opponents who say laws limiting anti-abortion demonstrations near clinics violate their First Amendment rights.

Cecile Richards served as president of Planned Parenthood from 2006 to 2018, helping boost the profile of an organization long criticized by conservatives and anti-abortion activists who have called on the government to strip its funding.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson have both said they are prepared to confront President-elect Donald Trump's policies head-on. But it is unclear how Trump will make good on his promises of retribution, and what power city and state officials will have to resist or thwart federal authorities.

Abortion has become slightly more common despite bans or deep restrictions in most Republican-controlled states, and the legal and political fights over its future are not over yet.

Like other states with strict abortion bans, Tennesseans of childbearing age are more likely to live in maternal care deserts and face overall doctor shortages. Women, infants and children are less likely to be enrolled in a government nutrition program known as WIC. And Tennessee is one of only 10 states that hasn’t expanded Medicaid to a greater share of low-income families.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker frustrated several of his counterparts by trying to get them to sign on to a group he started postelection to push back on Trump, but only Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed on as a co-chair. Pritzker has his staff exploring ideas such as blocking GPS tracking on apps for women who may be traveling to the state to get abortions. 

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of six organizations and six individuals against Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Illinois Department of Insurance Director Ann Gillespie and Attorney General Kwame Raoul.

Democratic leaders — who kept their veto-proof majorities in both the state House and state Senate — are discussing what, if any, actions Illinois may take to “shore up” protections ahead of a second Trump presidency.

The former president and now president-elect often skipped over details but through more than a year of policy pronouncements and written statements outlined a wide-ranging agenda. It would scale back federal government efforts on civil rights and expand presidential powers.

Passing certain amendments in Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota likely would lead to undoing bans or restrictions that currently block varying levels of abortion access to more than 7 million women of childbearing age who live in those states.

In the spring of 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the longstanding abortion protections established under Roe v. Wade, leaving decisions about the reproductive health care procedure up to the states. For Hoosier Abbey Hall, she never imagined such a change would impact her.

Democratic legislators sounded the alarm in a letter Thursday to Mayor Brandon Johnson and urged him to “act swiftly.”

“As the mother of four daughters that I thought would have more rights than me, not fewer,” Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton said, “I’m devastated to this day that Trump’s Supreme Court found a way to relegate us to second-class citizens.”

“It is incredibly disheartening to see a local church leader who once aligned himself with our cause participate in such a deeply anti-life, anti-family event as the DNC,” Illinois Right to Life president Mary Kate Zander said in a statement.