(The Center Square) – There’s still no indication if there will be a special session that Democratic leaders at the Illinois statehouse said would happen more than two months ago.
After the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe. v. Wade in June, Illinois statehouse Democrats and Gov. J.B. Pritzker said they’d call a special session to further Illinois’ role in providing access to abortion, but never announced a date.
Tuesday, after getting endorsements from officials with Planned Parenthood, Pritzker said working groups are meeting.
“You heard about the need to protect from legal liability, criminal and civil liability that other states want to bring against people in Illinois, against their own people who come to Illinois, those are parts of what need to be addressed by the legislature,” Pritzker said.
Pritzker said his executive authority only goes so far.
“There are things that you can’t do as an executive order. There are things that the legislature really does need to do, we need it enshrined into law,” Pritzker said. “So, again, those things are all being worked out. We’re talking with the legislature, working with the attorney general’s office.”
Illinois Senate Minority Leader Dan McConchie, R-Hawthorn Woods, said the hold up may be that Democrats are gauging public sentiment.
“I think it’s because the Democrats understand that what they want to do is go even farther on abortion, even more extreme than any other state in the country,” McConchie told The Center Square earlier this month. “I think they recognize we already have some of the most extreme abortion laws in the country. Going further might actually alienate voters this fall.”
The election is Nov. 8. Lawmakers return for the scheduled fall session the following week.
Illinois has some of the least restrictive laws on abortion access. Abortion providers report an uptick of out-of-state patients seeking the procedure in Illinois.