* Pro-Choice Missouri, PROMO, and Missouri Abortion Fund…

“Missourians applaud the passage of HB 4664. Missourians rely on states like Illinois for abortion care and we know politicians are coming after the transgender community’s very ability to exist. The bill puts protections in place today that will bring necessary relief and reassurance tomorrow for the patients and providers who are risking their lives to cross state lines to exercise rights and freedoms that aren’t afforded to us in Missouri. Missourians deserve better; Missourians deserve more.

“This legislation is bigger than just Illinois. Our communities need policies that expand access to abortion and gender-affirming care, protect providers, and add capacity to a health care system that has offered Missourians a place of refuge in a post-Roe reality. We urge Governor Pritzker to take immediate action and sign this bill into law.”

* Hannah Meisel has by far the best explanation piece on the bill…

Demand from out-of-state abortion seekers – particularly from neighboring Missouri – began accelerating even before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer, but advocates expect even more need as Republican-controlled states further clamp down on abortion access.

To meet that future demand, Democrats included provisions in their bill meant to grow Illinois’ reproductive health care workforce, like allowing physician assistants and nurse practitioners to perform vacuum aspiration abortions – the most common type of in-clinic abortions for pregnancies up to around 14 weeks – which do not require general anesthesia.

Under the bill, Illinois would also speed the process for granting temporary permits for all doctors, physician assistants and nurse practitioners to address health care shortages in all areas, not just reproductive health care. […]

Under the bill, which Gov. JB Pritzker said he will sign, Illinois would join California, Massachusetts and a handful of other East Coast states in establishing “shield laws” protecting information about abortions from being subject to subpoenas and orders for witness testimony issued from courts in other states.

Like the shield laws enacted by those other states, Illinois’ legal protections would also cover patients and health care professionals engaged in gender-affirming care – a practice some Republican-led states have already begun clamping down on in addition to restricting abortion access.

Go read the rest.

* More…

* Illinois House passes measure that expands scope of medical professionals able to perform abortions: It also allows patients to receive hormonal birth control over the counter from a pharmacist under a statewide order from the Illinois Department of Public Health and clarifies that no person is subject to civil liability for receiving an abortion and that no hospital personnel may report an abortion to law enforcement agencies. Advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants would be able to perform aspiration abortions, the most common in-clinic abortions that do not require general anesthesia. … It also removes co-pays for HIV medications and gender-affirming care, including medication and surgery for those seeking to change their gender. That became a sticking point for many Republicans, who picked apart whether minors should be able to choose their gender. The legislation, however, strictly focused on medications for gender-affirming care not an expansion of the care.

* Bill offering abortion, gender-affirming care protections heads to Governor Pritzker’s desk

* Carbondale City Council votes unanimously in favor of amendment regarding protests outside health care facilities: The Carbondale City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to amend the city’s ordinance on disorderly conduct in an effort to protect patients and staff going into and out of medical facilities that provide abortion services, and other health care facilities.  The amendment council members voted in favor of centers around the type of conduct allowed within a 100-foot radius of entrances of hospitals, medical clinics and other health care facilities. A previous version of the amendment specified a radius of 50 feet, but council members expanded that to 100 feet before voting in favor of the change.  Within that specific area, people could be charged with disorderly conduct if they knowingly come within 8 feet of an individual without their consent to hand them a leaflet or handbill, display a sign to them or engage in “oral protest, education, or counseling with such other person in the public way.” People could also be charged if they use force, threats or physical obstruction to injure, intimidate or interfere or attempt to injure, intimidate or interfere will anyone entering or leaving a health care facility. 

* ADDED: Women can be prosecuted for taking abortion pills, says Alabama attorney general: One week after the federal government made it easier to get abortion pills, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said Tuesday that women in Alabama who use those pills to end pregnancies could be prosecuted. That’s despite wording in Alabama’s new Human Life Protection Act that criminalizes abortion providers and prevents its use against the people receiving abortions. Instead, the attorney general’s office said Alabama could rely on an older law, one initially designed to protect children from meth lab fumes. “The Human Life Protection Act targets abortion providers, exempting women ‘upon whom an abortion is performed or attempted to be performed’ from liability under the law,” Marshall said in an emailed statement. “It does not provide an across-the-board exemption from all criminal laws, including the chemical-endangerment law—which the Alabama Supreme Court has affirmed and reaffirmed protects unborn children.”