Gov. J.B. Pritzker hugged and congratulated sponsors of legislation to protect abortion rights in Illinois after the Senate approved the plan 34-20.
The Democratic governor has pledged to sign the bill sent to him Friday night. It makes Illinois' abortion law among the nation's most sweeping in response to action in at least six Republican-controlled states in recent weeks that sharply restricts access to the procedure.
The measure sponsored by Grayslake Democratic Sen. Melinda Bush would rescind prohibitions on some late-term abortions and 45-year-old criminal penalties for performing the procedure.
The restrictions adopted after the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion have never been enforced Illinois because of court injunctions.
Republicans and others opposed to abortion rights have worked furiously against it. They staged a rally in March that stuffed 4,000 protesters into the Capitol.
