Abortion is slated to be on the ballot across the country this November, but lawmakers in one blue state appear to be happy to let abortion-rights resources flood to other states.
Illinois has abortion laws that allow the procedure through viability, with exceptions allowing for later abortions to preserve the physical and mental health of the mother, putting it in line with some of the least restrictive laws in the country. One of the leading backers of an abortion ballot measure, Democratic state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, told WTTW that lawmakers are not in a rush to get abortion rights enshrined in the state constitution.
“We are sitting here on pretty good laws; we’ve got time. We can let other states have that runway and have that space,” Cassidy told the outlet.
Illinois has a Democratic supermajority in both chambers and a Democrat in the governor’s office, meaning any restrictions to abortion in the immediate future are highly unlikely.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL) has been among those pushing for the ballot measure in the past, outlining it as a priority during his second gubernatorial inauguration speech in January 2023.
“One thing last year proved is that if given the chance, a bunch of right-wing judges and legislators will take away women’s rights. Well, Illinois spoke loudly and decisively in 2022 and declared that in the Land of Lincoln, we trust women! The right to privacy and bodily autonomy demand that we establish a constitutional protection for reproductive rights in Illinois,” Pritzker said in 2023.
“The extremists still want to take away a woman’s right to choose, and I don’t intend to let them. That’s why yet again, on women’s rights, Illinois will lead,” he added.
In Illinois, the state legislature has until six months before the election to refer a ballot initiative for voters to decide. The deadline for the 2024 general election is May 5 and would need to be approved by either a three-fifths majority of those voting on the question or by the majority of those voting in the election.
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Abortion ballot questions will be on the ballot in various states, including Florida, and could make the ballot in various key swing states, including Nevada and Arizona. Most of the ballot measures would enshrine a right to abortion through viability, leaving it off limits for state legislatures to govern.
The avalanche of ballot measures regarding abortion comes roughly two years after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which returned abortion law to the states.
