Abortion will remain legal in Illinois, thanks to a law signed by former Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2017 that rolled back a measure that would have automatically banned abortion in Illinois if Roe v. Wade, decided in 1973, was overturned.
Health Care


The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years in a decision by its conservative majority to overturn Roe v. Wade.

For the first time in decades, life expectancy for Black Chicagoans fell below 70 years old. In 2020, the gap in life expectancy between Black and White residents was 10 years, an increase from 8.8 years in 2017. Overall, life expectancy in Chicago dropped almost two years from 2019 to 2020.

From 2019 to 2020, life expectancy in Chicago dropped almost two years – one of the sharpest single-year decreases on record, according to city officials. Latino and Black Chicagoans experienced the steepest declines, with life expectancy for the latter falling below 70 years for the first time in decades.

Dr. Ngozi Ezike will take over as the new president and CEO of Sinai Chicago on June 13. “I received many calls about various opportunities over the past year, but this is the right choice for me and the right moment. Sinai Chicago is where I want to be,” Ezike said in a statement.

Six months out from the midterm elections, President Joe Biden’s team is betting that smaller, discrete announcements can break through to voters better than talk of transformational plans that are so far only aspirational.

Pandemic inequities and how health care systems contribute to them are the focus of the latest selection in our “Black Voices Book Club” series, “The Emergency: A year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER.”

Six months ago, Chicagoan Albert Khoury underwent a double lung transplant to treat stage 4 lung cancer. Today, he has no signs of cancer. The success of the surgery, a first for Northwestern Medicine, “provides new hope for lung cancer patients at Northwestern Medicine,” said surgeon Dr. Ankit Bharat.

The National Institutes of Health released the data on Thursday to help researchers start unraveling how people’s genes, environments and lifestyles interact to drive their health. And half the study’s participants are from racial and ethnic groups historically left out of medical research.

West Garfield Park residents have a life expectancy of 69 years – one of the lowest in the city. The Garfield Park Rite to Wellness Collaborative aims to change that by creating an environment that promotes health and wellness in the neighborhood.

A new study from Verywell Health has found that Black patients often have a different medical experience than White patients due to discrimination and inequities in health care settings.

University of Chicago Medicine has proposed building a $633 million cancer center in hopes of addressing health inequities on the South Side, while also easing some of the medical center’s capacity constraints.

As dentists across Illinois experience staffing shortages and an increased demand for dental appointments, they are asking state officials to consider teledentistry and other services to help fill the demand.

According to CDC data, Illinois saw its highest-ever case rate for nursing home residents this month, surpassing even last winter’s surge. Cases among staff have also reached record levels.

It’ll be easier to access birth control in Illinois, courtesy of a new law that allows pharmacists to dispense hormonal contraception without a doctor’s prescription.

Overwhelmed by an influx of patients suffering from COVID-19, hospital administrators offered guidance on when people should head to the emergency room.