ELGIN – State Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin, today issued the following statement on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on abortion rights nationally:

“Today is a sad day for health care and women’s rights in America. But in Illinois, we are resolved to stand strong in the face of this terrible decision to restrict women’s rights to quality health care.

Abortion is safe, legal and embraced as health care for women in Illinois. No politician or court should control an individual’s medical choices. As an elected official in Illinois, my duty is to support health care providers and patients to provide the quality, accessible care options we all deserve.

We have taken many important steps in recent years to protect women’s health care and reproductive rights.

We passed House Bill 40, which removes the trigger law in anticipation of this moment when Roe could be overturned to ensure abortion is still legal in Illinois. We passed the Reproductive Health Act, which guarantees reproductive health care is available to all women. And most recently, I sponsored with Sen. Elgie Sims the repeal of the Parental Notification Act, which ensures women who can be victims of incest and rape in horrible family situations are not repeatedly victimized because they cannot seek the care they need without the knowledge of the supposed loved one who is terrorizing them.

Despite the progress, we are concerned the court decision will create a crisis here in Illinois for abortion care. More than half the country – 26 states – could move quickly to ban abortion, including all of our neighboring states. Illinois could see 20 times more out-of-state patients coming here for care than we do today.

We need to keep abortion care legal, but also do more. We must fund providers and protect clinics that offer this care. We must make abortion care affordable for all who need it. We must do everything we can to protect access to reproductive care, because a right is not a right without accessible, affordable care.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to turn today’s devastating decision into tomorrow’s promise to women and families: Illinois is and will be a place you can make the best choice for your health care. It is time to get to work because millions of women across our state and our nation are depending on us.”

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