Illinois and Nevada approve abortion rights bills that remove long-standing criminal penalties

By Veronica Stracqualursi and Chris Boyette, CNN
Updated 1634 GMT (0034 HKT) June 1, 2019

(CNN) — While a wave of Republican-led states have recently pushed laws restricting abortion, Illinois and Nevada moved legislation forward Friday aimed at protecting access to the procedure.

The Illinois Legislature has sent Senate Bill 25, also called the Reproductive Health Act, to the governor's desk that would protect the "fundamental rights of individuals to make autonomous decisions about one's own reproductive health." The measure passed the Illinois Democratic-led Senate late Friday with a 34-20 vote. Only one Democrat voted against the bill, and Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker has said he will sign the legislation.

Under the bill, pregnant women have the "fundamental right" to have an abortion and a "fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus does not have independent rights."

It repeals the Illinois Abortion Law of 1975, which penalized doctors for performing the procedure, and the state's ban on partial-birth abortions. The bill also provides insurance requirements to cover abortion procedures.
"As states across the country pass dangerous laws restricting access to abortion, we in Illinois are standing with women and guaranteeing access to reproductive health care," Democratic state Sen. Melinda Bush, one of the bill's sponsors, said in a statement.

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