Pritzker makes abortion rights central issue
By PETER HANCOCK
Capitol News Illinois
phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com
SPRINGFIELD – Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker said Tuesday that abortion rights will be a central issue in the 2022 election, not just in his bid for reelection but in races up and down the ballot.
That includes races for Congress and the Illinois Supreme Court as well as the governor’s race and state legislative contests.
Speaking at a news conference with officials from political advocacy arms of Planned Parenthood organizations, Pritzker said the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June overturning Roe v. Wade changed the focus of the 2022 elections and gave voters – particularly women – a new motivation to vote this fall.
“But make no mistake, the right wing may have taken away abortion rights from half of all Americans, but they’ve unleashed a tsunami of determined women voters and their allies who will lift up pro-choice candidates and take down the ultra-conservative fundamentalists this November,” he said.
Pritzker’s comments came as the general election cycle is just getting into full swing and the two major party candidates try to define what the central issues of the campaign should be.
So far, Pritzker’s Republican challenger, state Sen. Darren Bailey, of Xenia, has tried to focus the race on issues of law and order, including the high rate of violent crime in Chicago, as well issues like taxes, the economy and Pritzker’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bailey’s lieutenant governor running mate, Stephanie Trussell, was scheduled to hold a news conference Tuesday in Chicago to focus on what the campaign called “the Pritzker administration’s failure to address rising crime and businesses shutting down and fleeing communities across Illinois.”
And on Monday, Bailey released a statement calling on Pritzker to apologize to Illinois students and parents for closing schools and cancelling extracurricular activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.S Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization appears to have made abortion a top issue with Democrats in the mid-term elections. A Pew Research poll released last week showed 71 percent of Democrats view abortion as an issue that is “very important” to their vote. That was up 25 percentage points from March, before the Dobbs decision.
In Kansas, voters in that conservative state on Aug. 2 overwhelmingly rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have given the state’s legislature broad new authority to regulate abortion.
Elsewhere, so-called “trigger laws” quickly took effect in at least 16 states, including those neighboring Illinois, that have either banned or imposed severe restrictions on abortion access, making Illinois an outlier in the Midwest while giving Democrats here a hot-button social issue on which to run.
“At least 26 states in total are expected to move to ban abortion in the coming months, putting 40 million women and people who can get pregnant at risk,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund. “Hundreds of thousands of people can no longer access the abortion care they need in their own states, and they are fleeing to places like Illinois to get care.”
Immediately after the Dobbs decision, Pritzker announced that he would call the General Assembly into special session to consider measures to expand abortion access in Illinois. Among the measures discussed is allowing nurse practitioners to perform the procedure in order to increase the number of abortion providers and giving legal protection in Illinois to providers in other states who may face disciplinary action or prosecution for performing the procedure.
Those plans, however, have been put on hold, and Pritzker indicated Tuesday that lawmakers might wait until the 2023 regular session before taking action, when it takes only a simple majority, rather than a three-fifths super majority, to pass legislation that takes immediate effect.
“So, there’s some things that can be done, could be done with a supermajority, some things that take a simple majority,” he said. “So again, the legislature is working through all those things.”
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government and distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
Local News
Boys State Track Finals | St. Laurence’s Harley Rizzs wins 100m title, helps Vikings to 400m relay gold
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent St. Laurence junior Harley Rizzs was a member of the Vikings football team that earned a 2023 Class 4A state runner-up trophy the day after Thanksgiving. He bettered that two days before Memorial Day when he became the first St. Laurence track athlete to win an individual state championship.…
‘Curtis got it done’
Spread the love. Pete’s Fresh Market opens at 87/Kedzie . By Tim Hadac A grand opening that wasn’t supposed to happen…happened in Ashburn this month. For 18th Ward Ald. Derrick G. Curtis, architect of the development, it was a time of joy and nervous energy. “I didn’t get any sleep last night,” he told several…
Learning history is fun, honest
Spread the love Seventh and eighth graders from Our Lady of the Snows School clamor to rub the nose of a bust of President Abraham Lincoln during a field trip to Springfield earlier this month. Rubbing the nose of the famous bust of Honest Abe–a part of the tomb of the nation’s 16th President–is said…
Fight to save ShotSpotter is still alive
Spread the love. By Tim Hadac Editor Clear-Ridge Reporter & NewsHound (708)-496-0265 . As you have read several times in the Clear-Ridge Reporter & NewsHound, the people of Clearing and Garfield Ridge are clear in their support of keeping ShotSpotter technology deployed in Chicago, to help police fight crime. So I won’t go over old…
63rd Street getting a facelift
Spread the love. Quinn hails federally funded resurfacing project . By Tim Hadac The old joke about there being not four seasons, but just two in Chicago each year—winter and construction—was apparent late last week as heavy equipment arrived in Clearing. As 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn and other city officials gathered for an outdoor…
Tabares blasts Foxx over ‘no seizure’ idea
Spread the love. Brands State’s Attorney as ‘pro-criminal’ . By Tim Hadac Twenty-third Ward Ald. Silvana Tabares this week blasted outgoing Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx over a possible change in how crimes are—or are not–prosecuted.Foxx recently said she is considering a plan to decline to prosecute weapons and drug crimes detected by routine…
School can get messy
Spread the love Second grader Weronika Kozielec squirts ketchup on the head of Our Lady of the Snows School Principal Christina Avis at a recent gathering in the parking lot of the school, 4810 S. Leamington. But the condiment was not all that was dumped on the principal. Students, faculty and staff laughed and cheered…
Brother, what a day today is
Spread the love. By Peggy Zabicki Your correspondent in West Lawn 3633 W. 60th Place • (773) 504-9327 . May 24 is National Brothers Day. The word “brother” comes from the Latin root for “frater” and the Proto-Germanic word “brothar” which itself comes from the Proto-Indo-European root “bhrater.” I’m sure everyone already knows that, but…
Neighbors
Riot Fest abandons Chicago park for SeatGeek Stadium
Spread the loveBy Bob Bong Last year, Lyrical Lemonade moved its Summer Smash hip-hop music festival from Chicago’s Douglass Park to Bridgeview’s SeatGeek Stadium. Thousands of fans poured into the stadium at 7100 S. Harlem Ave. over the course of three days and, by most accounts, enjoyed the experience. Summer Smash returned to SeatGeek this…
Comings & Goings: Orland Park Summerfest returns this weekend
Spread the loveBy Bob Bong Back for a second go round this weekend is the Orland Park Area Chamber of Commerce’s Summerfest. The event combines a carnival, live music, an array of dining options and a car show, at the 153rd Street Metra Station location in Orland Park and will run from Friday, June 14,…
Repair Cafe this Saturday at Township of Lyons HQ
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch Repair cafes have become quite the thing for the Township of Lyons. So much so that another repair cafe will be offered from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. this Saturday, June 15, at the township office, 6404 Joliet Road in Countryside. A repair café held in May was a smashing…
‘They didn’t have to kill my brother’ – sister of slain Bridgeview man
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch Arturo Cantu should be celebrating two big events this weekend. He would have celebrated his 40th birthday on June 14. And, a sister said, he would have enjoyed Father’s Day on Sunday, spending time with family and his two young children. Instead, 10 family members and friends gathered in a…
‘You just learn to live with the pain’
Spread the loveStatus hearing in July for McCook murder By Steve Metsch The attorney representing a Chicago man charged with murdering a Blue Island man in McCook in February told a judge Wednesday there’s been “a significant and outstanding discovery in this matter.” Attorney Damon Cheronis made his comment before Cook County Circuit Court Judge…
Man shot in La Grange; suspect arrested in Stickney
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch A man was shot Tuesday afternoon in La Grange, according to a news release received Wednesday from the police department. A suspect has been apprehended, the release said. The shooting victim remains in stable condition at a local hospital, the release said. La Grange Police, working with the Major Case…
Softball | Marist will play for state title for fourth straight season
Spread the loveBy Randy Whalen Correspondent Marist returned to the state title game for the fourth straight season with a 7-1 victory over Mundelein in the semifinals, held June 7 at Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria. The Mustangs (36-2) were making their first appearance at state since 1996. “We have a core group of returners,”…
McCook building inspector retires after 18 years
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch After 18 years of inspecting buildings, be it a modest bi-level house or a sprawling multi-million-dollar warehouse, Terrence Hickey is retiring from the village of McCook. His retirement takes effect June 28, Mayor Terrance Carr said during the June 3 meeting of the village board. “I’m jealous,” Carr said. “(He’s…
New Summit Girl Scout troop off and running
Spread the loveBy Carol McGowan There’s a new Girl Scout Troop in Summit, and they have been busy. Troop 56615 is made up of girls from Summit School District 104 from first-grade to third-grade, and between 7-9 years old, making them Brownies in the scouting world. They have 10 girls so far, and Troop Leader…