CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — One year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade protections for abortions, a leading abortion-rights advocate said they are still adjusting to the new legal landscape.
Brigid Leahy, executive vice president with Planned Parenthood Illinois Action, said her organization is, in some ways, anticipating the next skirmishes in the battle over abortion.
“Abortion access changed very quickly in some states, and in some states it’s been an ongoing fight,” Leahy said. “We’ve been waiting to see when the next domino might fall around us. That makes a difference. Indiana passed a ban, and it took about one year for it to go into effect. Iowa recently passed a ban, and now it's being held up in court. This is an ongoing thing going on around us.”
Meanwhile, Leahy said many more patients seeking abortion are coming to Illinois. She added that while the increased numbers are putting financial pressures on her organization, donations are helping them keep up for now.
“We do have to sustain this effort long term,” Leahy said. “We know that our Supreme Court is not going to change any time soon.”
In the wake of the Dobbs decision, Leahy said Planned Parenthood made sure its clinics were ready for the influx.
“Another aspect was making sure that in Illinois we had the laws and policies in place to protect … the people accessing care [and] to protect those who were providing care,” she said. “Those areas were really important to make sure that they were aligned and that we were working together, and that we were thinking about ourselves in this new national landscape.”
Eric Scheidler, who heads the Pro-Life Action League in Chicago, said anti-abortion advocates are finding the landscape different, as well. They, too, are waiting to see how the various legal battles shake out.
Scheidler told WBBM he expects the legal battles to continue.
This episode of “At Issue” was Part Two of a two-part series showing both sides in a debate over abortion. Listen live at 9:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. each Sunday for the latest episode of “At Issue.”
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