Excuse me as I pick my jaw off the floor after reading this news from Illinois. The state’s Republican governor is actually expanding abortion access for its residents. Mother Jones reports:
Illinois Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner announced on Thursday that he will sign legislation to remove a ban on abortion coverage for women enrolled in Medicaid and in state employee health insurance.
The bill, HB 40, will also remove a state “trigger” law that would automatically make abortion illegal if Roe v. Wade were to be overturned. Illinois State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz introduced the bill earlier this year to the Democratic-majority legislature in an effort to protect women’s rights under President Trump.
This makes Illinois the first state to expand abortion access for low-income people in decades. Gov. Rauner’s justification for this move is really logical. During a press conference, he said:
I believe that a woman living with limited financial means should not be put in the position where she has to choose something different than a woman of higher income would be able to choose. I do not think it’s fair to deny poor women the choice that wealthy women have.
Amen to that.