According to the Chicago Tribune, About 42,400 babies were aborted in 2018, while over 46,500 were aborted in 2019. The number of women coming to Illinois from other states to have abortions also increased. 13% of women who had abortions in 2018 (about 5,500) came from out of state. This increased to 16% (about 7,500) in 2019.
The passage of the 2019 Reproductive Health Act cemented Illinois's image as an "abortion haven" in the midst of other midwestern states that take action to regulate abortion. The law ended a variety of abortion restrictions and made abortion a right under state law. As other nearby states continually work to save lives, Illinois lawmakers and abortion businesses are undercutting their efforts.
Two major Planned Parenthood clinics have opened since then as well. In late 2019, Planned Parenthood opened its "mega-clinic" that it had secretly constructed in Fairview Heights by using a shell company. A major purpose for this clinic was to offer abortion to Missouri women, since Planned Parenthood's St. Louis clinic faced the threat of closure due to health violations. Planned Parenthood also opened a major clinic in Waukegan just last year.
If Illinois continues to pass pro-abortion legislation and repeal pro-life protections, the number of children killed by abortion only stands to increase even more.
