* Background is here if you need it. Personal PAC’s Sarah Garza Resnick…

It is an unacceptable decision on the part of the Senate to remove coverage of abortion services from HB5142, the Governor’s Birth Equity Bill. This bill, as passed by the House of Representatives, would end cost-sharing and extend coverage for all services for pregnancy, postpartum, and newborn care. Abortion services are inseparable from this category of care. Eight other states, including California and New York, have already passed similar legislation. Illinois trusts women and there is no reason why we should not join these other states in removing another barrier to accessing abortion care.

The bill is here.

Resnick promised a “war” over this when I called her.

I have calls and messages out to the Senate sponsor, Lakesia Collins, and the Senate President’s office. The House sponsor, Majority Leader Robyn Gabel, referred me to Senate President Don Harmon.

* From the governor’s office…

Conversations regarding the Governor’s Birth Equity Initiative in the Senate are ongoing, but we’re proud of the broad support the bill received in the House. The Governor has been clear that Illinois trusts women to make decisions about their healthcare and abortion is a vital part of their healthcare options. He will not sign a bill that treats abortion differently than other birth equity provisions.

* Coincidentally, this polling memo was sent out by the governor’s campaign today…

Recent research from Global Strategy Group has found that the Healthcare Protection Act and the Birth Equity Initiative are deeply popular among the Illinois electorate, especially provisions that ban junk health plans and require prior approval for rate increases. What’s more, they stand to boost support for Democratic state legislature candidates who support them.

I’ve asked for toplines.

…Adding… From Rep. Kelly Cassidy, who chairs the Dobbs working group…

I am grateful to Governor Pritzker for being true to our promise to ensure access to the full spectrum of reproductive health care to everyone in our state. Copays are a barrier to access, especially for low income people. We should not be emulating the states around us making it harder for people to access care.

…Adding… The Senate sponsor, Sen. Lakesia Collins (D-Chicago), told me she will not move the bill if it’s amended to strip out abortion coverage.

Sen. Collins had sponsored an identical Senate bill, but couldn’t get more than a subject matter hearing in the Insurance Committee. Now, though, the insurance industry is neutral after negotiations she participated in, and she said she told Senate President Harmon that they’d reached a point where the bill needed to be called.

Collins said Harmon told her that he “cares about the issue a lot,” but that there were still some issues with the bill. Asked what those were, Harmon told Collins it was the abortion coverage issue and he’d work on it.

“And then I find out today that they stripped the whole piece around abortion out,” Collins said, adding that no members from her side of the aisle had ever approached her about the topic being a problem. “I don’t know where the pushback is coming from.”

Collins said since the House was unlikely to pass an amended version and the governor won’t sign it, there’s no purpose in moving the bill forward. “You’re basically killing the bill,” she said.

“This has been a long time coming,” she said of her bill. “There have been advocates fighting around this for a very long time who are looking forward to this bill passing. And it’s like, here we are fighting about something to me that’s just fundamental.”

…Adding… Senate President Don Harmon…

I wish the governor would have reached out to me. We are working through this important issue with the caucus to inform and educate people about what it does so we can build consensus.