Democrat Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced this week that his state is spending more than $23 million on programs for out-of-state abortion seekers.
Pritzker made the announcement as another Illinois border state, Indiana, is set to join Kentucky and Missouri in enacting abortion restrictions, Capitol News Illinois reported.
“While our neighboring states revert to forcing back-alley abortions, Illinois will remain a safe haven for women,” Pritzker claimed Monday at an event in Chicago announcing the investments. “And I will continue to do everything in my power to ensure widespread equitable access to reproductive rights.”
Anticipating an influx in out-of-state abortion seekers, the Illinois Department of Health is spending $10 million to create an abortion hotline to help women find abortionists and make appointments to abort their unborn babies. The state will also put $8 million toward additional training for abortionists and a specialty consultation program for at-risk patients, according to the report.
Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. J.B. Pritzker raise their hands in a show of unity after speaking to Democratic supporters during a rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago on Sept. 16, 2022. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Additionally, the state’s Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity is opening a $5 million grant program for abortionists in the state.
“That money comes from the non-transportation portion of Illinois’ $45 billion infrastructure program, Rebuild Illinois. It can be spent on improvements, repairs, new construction, security upgrades and equipment, including vehicles that can be turned into mobile care units,” the report states.
Pritzker announced that the state’s Department of Healthcare and Family Services, along with IDPH, will join the University of Illinois at Chicago hospital, Rush University Medical Center, and the Chicago Abortion Fund to launch a hotline aimed at these high-risk patients next month.
“The hotline, dubbed the Complex Abortion Regional Line for Access, or CARLA, will be staffed by nurses who will aid patients through scheduling appointments within hospital systems and getting set up with any required pre-operative testing,” according to the report. “Additionally, CARLA’s partnership with the Chicago Abortion Fund will help patients with funding for reproductive health services, plus any transportation and child care costs while getting and recovering from treatment.”
The state is also creating a family planning program for Medicaid recipients to cover abortion, vasectomies, tubal ligation, contraception, cancer screenings related to reproductive organs, and other services. That program will be paid for with Medicaid and Title X funding, although a spokesperson for the governor did not provide an exact figure.
Moreover, the state will now reimburse travel costs for state employees and dependents who live out of state but seek to abort their babies in Illinois.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Twitter @thekat_hamilton.
