In the hours after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that established the right to abortion nearly 50 years ago, Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx expressed worry about what precedent the decision would set in regard to other social issues.
Foxx, the former board chair of Planned Parenthood of Illinois and an abortion rights advocate, emphasized abortion remains legal in the state, calling Illinois " an oasis for abortions across the Midwest." The prosecutor said, however, she believes more and more states will become punitive, restrictive and flat out ban abortions.
After that, the legality of same-sex marriage, among other rights established by Supreme Court rulings, could be in jeopardy.
"I think the court has made it very clear that this is just the tip of the iceberg," Foxx said. "...Whether we're talking about, you know, in vitro fertilization or birth control, again, issues here in Illinois that we have come to take for granted, that access to are now on the table. And none of this is something that we should take lightly..."
Foxx, along with more than 60 other state and local prosecutors from across the U.S., have joined a coalition and pledged not to prosecute those seeking or providing abortions. Furthermore, Foxx is among the prosecutors advocating to repeal the criminalization of abortion.
Friday's ruling, she stated, is "antithetical to public safety."
"It makes our communities more dangerous...in ways that women who don't have access to abortions will, you know, find other methods that may not be safe, that we will see women die as a result of not having adequate health care, abortion is health care," Foxx said.
Calling abortion a deeply personal issue, Foxx openly discussed she had an abortion at 22 years old, as a senior in college, just one month shy of graduation.
"...I was not prepared to have a baby," she stated. "It was not a pregnancy that I was expecting. But because I had a constitutional guarantee and access to care, I was able to determine my outcome."
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter here.
Years earlier, Foxx's mother performed an abortion on herself before Roe v. Wade; she drank turpentine as a means to terminate her pregnancy, Foxx said.
"And now I'm a mother. And I have four daughters," the state's attorney commented. "And the fact that they are back in the same position that my mother was, is [horrifying]."
Friday's ruling immediately splits the country into states with abortion access and those that outlaw it. Thirteen states, mainly in the South and Midwest, had laws on the books that ban abortion in the event Roe is overturned.
However, in Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law in 2019 legislation expanding abortion rights across the state. Following the Supreme Court decision, Pritzker called for the General Assembly to hold a special session in the coming weeks saying, "together, we are committed to taking swift action to further enshrine our commitment to reproductive health care rights and protections."
