* Public Radio…

The General Assembly on Monday sent Gov. JB Pritzker a bill that would allow pharmacists to hand out hormonal birth control to a patient who has not seen a doctor.

State Rep. Michelle Mussman (D, Schaumburg) sponsored the measure, which she said would boost access to birth control and limit unintended pregnancies. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a research and advocacy organization supporting access to contraception, in Illinois, 41 percent of pregnancies in the state are unintended.

“It certainly opens up a lot more pathways than having to go see a doctor, which we know can be quite an obstacle,” Mussman said. “Even if you have insurance, sometimes there are delays in your ability to make an appointment. It can be a bigger hurdle than many people realize.’’

The lack of access can be particularly difficult in some underserved areas, said Brigid Leahy, senior director of public policy with Planned Parenthood Illinois Action.

* Hospice News…

The Illinois State Assembly has passed a bill to create an in-home palliative care benefit for children facing life-limiting conditions. The legislation will now go to Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) for signature. Stakeholders told Hospice News that the measure could signal advancement on establishing a national palliative care benefit.

The Pediatric Palliative Care Bill (SB.2384) aims to make community-based, interdisciplinary palliative care services more accessible to patients and reimbursable for providers. Patients would be able to receive curative treatments in tandem with these services.

The bill would allow more families in Illinois to get benefits sooner rather than later, according to Laurie Mungoven, pediatric team coordinator and registered nurse for Lightways Hospice and Serious Illness Care. Formerly the Joliet Area Community Hospice, Lightways rebranded this May to reflect the organization’s growth plans and expanded range of services, including pediatric care.

* People Magazine…

The couple now live in Chicago where, until only recently, insurance law dictated that fertility treatments are only covered for women who are unable to conceive after one year of unprotected sexual intercourse. That stipulation leaves out many Illinoisans - including gay couples and single women - who are trying to welcome a child.

After researching the issue, Marcus says he came to realize that the cost for him and his husband to have a child via surrogacy would be roughly $150,000, including genetic testing, fertility drugs, compensation for the woman who would carry the child and the costs of in assistive reproduction.

Insurance, he tells PEOPLE, would pay for none of it - which wouldn’t have been the case if he were straight.

“I looked into what my insurance coverage was at my employer and if I were straight, it wasn’t not great coverage [for fertility treatments] but since I was gay, I didn’t even have access to sub-par coverage,” he says.

With no solution in sight, he called his representative: a freshman state representative named Margaret Croke.

* WCIA…

City governments currently need to go to court to take over abandoned properties, but they are one signature from the governor away from being able to take these properties into their own hands much quicker.

“It reduces abandoned and neglected neglected homes by helping cities intervene earlier to the court system to save these properties, instead of let him just let them sit there vacant,” Senator Steve Stadelman (D-Rockford) said.

Jordan Creek is a property manager in Rantoul. His company, Patriot Square LLC, bought a chunk of untended land in the city, and has spent months cleaning it up.

“We’ve been going six months, almost seven months now,” Creek said. “Really doing a lot of TLC, removing a lot of landscape that’s been growing up for years used to not be able to see anything back through here. Ten foot tall weeds, cleaned up trees, cleanup property, all sorts of stuff.”

If the governor signs the bill, it could give counties and cities much more leeway in maintaining improving or even demolishing abandoned properties. Residents here in Rantoul feel that the extra power for the community could really help improve the city.