Abortion

Donald Trump speaks while pointing to something or someone while standing at a lectern and microphone.

Donald Trump's abortion stance is politically convenient and sensible

The Constitution does not give Congress the authority to regulate abortion. It’s an issue for the states.

By Jacob Sullum

Donald Trump speaks to workers standing near the counter of a Chick-fil-A.

Donald Trump abandons anti-abortion folks. Will they stick with him?

Former President Trump has kicked the abortion issue over to the states, which can rightly be seen as an act of political cowardice and expediency.

By S. E. Cupp

Obituaries

Richard Phelan, former Cook County Board president who restored abortion services, dies at 86

A Roman Catholic, Mr. Phelan used his executive powers as board president to restore abortion services to the county’s health care provider. Planned Parenthood Illinois Action created the yearly Richard J. Phelan Profile in Courage Award in his honor.

By David Struett

Columnists

Supreme Court case on abortion pill is also a matter of racial justice

Most women who seek abortions are women of color, especially Black women. Restricting access to mifepristone, as a case now before the Supreme Court seeks to do, would worsen racial health disparities.

By Marc H. Morial

Other Views

Illinois history has lessons on the politics of abortion

You may not know the names Rosemary Mulligan and Penny Pullen, but their 1990 race for a seat in the Illinois Legislature foreshadowed the role of abortion in politics today. Down-ballot races like this highlight the important work of state legislators on issues that affect people most.

By Patrick Wohl

Abortion

Abortion, other reproductive health info would be shielded in court documents under pioneering proposal

The initiative, the first of its kind in the country, would automatically seal or redact details about someone’s reproductive health detailed in court documents.

By Kaitlin Washburn

Columnists

Here are the guests of Illinois members of Congress for Biden's State of the Union address

With access to in vitro fertilization now an issue, several members from Illinois are bringing guests who work in reproductive health.

By Lynn Sweet

Opill, the first daily oral contraceptive that will be available over the counter in stores and online starting next year after being approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration.

Abortion

First over-the-counter birth control pill in the U.S. begins shipping to stores

Manufacturer Perrigo said Monday it has begun shipping the medication, Opill, to major retailers and pharmacies. A one-month supply will cost about $20.

By Associated Press

Washington

Gov. Pritzker in Nevada, Virginia, pushing for reproductive rights, fundraising for state parties

If you want to know if I think J.B. Pritzker, in his second term as Illinois governor, will one day run for president, I do. It’s nothing he said. I’m just reading the tea leaves.

By Lynn Sweet

Washington

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, whose daughters were born through IVF, pushes to safeguard access to IVF nationwide

GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi blocked an IVF protection bill that Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat, wanted to fast track on the Senate floor Wednesday.

By Lynn Sweet

Politics

After Alabama frozen embryo ruling, Pritzker has message for in vitro fertilization seekers: 'Come to Illinois'

Illinois already mandates insurance coverage for infertility, but state Democrats are working to further expand fertility access and coverage. “We’re protecting your rights in so many ways, but specifically regarding IVF,” Pritzker said, reacting to the Alabama decision.

By Tina Sfondeles

Sen. Tammy Duckworth and her daughter, Abigail. | Courtesy of Sen. Tammy Duckworth

Editorials

If Republicans agree that IVF needs legal protection, why not work with Sen. Tammy Duckworth on a bill?

In the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling that frozen embryos are children, Republicans in Congress should work on a bill with U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a proponent of federal legal protections for IVF treatments.

By CST Editorial Board

Dressed in black, Kamala Harris, standing at a lectern with two microphones, speaks on abortion rights

Columnists

Vice President Kamala Harris takes on abortion as her No. 1 cause

You cannot help but sense that she feels an urgency in her bones to help women in a way that no man could, Ben Jealous writes.

By Ben Jealous

Abortion

Chicago scores high rank for protecting abortion rights, national analysis finds

The National Institute for Reproductive Health analyzed the “reproductive freedom” of the 50 largest cities in the U.S. Chicago and New York ranked the highest.

By Kaitlin Washburn

Andy Thayer (right), a member of Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws and a Gay Liberation Network co-founder,speaks outside the Chicago Administrative Law Hearings Courthouse in River North on Tuesday as fellow coalition members Kristi Keorkunian-Rivers (left), co-founder of the Chicago chapter of Stop Trans Genocide, and Linda Loew (center), co-founder of Chicago for Abortion Rights listen.

2024 Democratic National Convention

Can the world be watching? Abortion rights, LGBTQ+ activists want delegates to see them during Democratic Convention protest

The city has denied a group’s permit to hold a demonstration at Jane M. Byrne Plaza during the Democratic National Convention in August. A judge this week will decide whether an alternate route is acceptable.

By Audrey Hettleman

A young girl holds a sign that reads “My body, my choice” in front of a crowd of pro-choice demonstrators in Bronzeville on July 4, 2022

Other Views

First Roe was overturned. Now contraception is on the line.

Extremists want to control women’s bodies, but the way to fight back for reproductive rights is at the ballot box, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky writes.

By Jan Schakowsky

Pro-abortion rights activists hold signs during a rally for abortion rights, with The Bean in Millennium Park in the background, April 15, 2023.

Editorials

Out-of-state abortions soared in Illinois, and the numbers are likely to keep rising

Our reproductive rights bubble here in Illinois could become even more strained for resources due to anti-abortion laws elsewhere.

By CST Editorial Board

A full body, slightly distanced view of Dr. Laura Laursen standing in the hallway of a medical facility whose walls are yellow and white.

Abortion

Illinois abortions for out-of-state patients soar after Roe v. Wade is overturned

Nearly 17,000 patients came to Illinois from other states to receive abortions since 2022, according to the Department of Public Health’s annual abortion statistics report.

By Mohammad Samra

Kristi Keorkunian-Rivers (left), co-founder of the Chicago chapter of Stop Trans Genocide, and Lisa Battisfore, founder of Reproductive Transparency Now, hold signs during a Tuesday news conference.

News

Chicago abortion rights and LGBTQ+ advocates seek permit to march on day before Democratic National Convention

The Democratic Party has failed to protect abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, the advocates claim.

By Phyllis Cha

Katie Cox, a pregnant Texas resident, holds her right hand on her belly.

Columnists

Texas abortion case defies logic, and compassion

Kate Cox had to flee the state to secure a legal abortion that could possibly save her life. These situations will continue as long as it’s politicians, “activists” and judges making the calls instead of women and their doctors.

By Gene Lyons