CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Mayor Lori Lightfoot has signed an executive order to protect people seeking abortions and other reproductive health care in Chicago from outside forces.
Lightfoot aligned herself with the four Chicago City Council members who have introduced an ordinance protecting people seeking abortions and trans people seeking health care in Chicago.
The mayor’s executive order will prohibit the Chicago Police Department, or any agency of Chicago government, from cooperating in any cases against those seeking abortions or reproductive health care in the city.
“While we cannot stop anti-abortion states from trying to take action in court against providers or patients in Chicago, we can ensure that, as a city government, we are never complicit in aiding and abetting those efforts,” Lightfoot said.
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Lightfoot said she’s not worrying about Illinois following suit if, or when, the U.S. Supreme Court allows abortions to be banned across the country.
This is a blue state, she said, and laws have already been passed here protecting a woman’s right to choose.
“We have to band together and be prepared for that onslaught,” Lightfoot said. “Many of the people who are going to be seeking care are going to need to come to Chicago.”
Abortion rights advocates said they’re already seeing actions against people from other states seeking reproductive services.
In Texas, lawmakers have threatened action against Chicago law firm Sidley Austin, which has promised to pay for abortions and abortion-related travel for its employees.
“We’ve got to make sure that we’ve got the capacity in our health care system to be able to accommodate these women and their families that are going to be looking to cities like Chicago, from all over the country, to be a beacon of hope and sanity in what will be, I think, will be a very difficult and insane time,” Lightfoot said.
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