Illinois pro-lifers claim victory as abortion amendment misses ballot deadline 

A rumored constitutional amendment enshrining abortion access and sex-change procedures into state law won’t appear on the fall ballot in Illinois this year.

The Sunday deadline passed for lawmakers to place constitutional referendums on the Nov. 3 ballot. Gov. JB Pritzker and Democratic lawmakers didn’t act, guaranteeing voters won’t decide on the issue before the governor’s second term ends.

The inaction marks a huge win for pro-life advocates in the state.

Illinois Right to Life (IRL) President Mary Kate Zander said the organization’s followers sent more than 11,000 emails to the governor and state lawmakers urging them to abandon the rumored proposal.

“This is a huge win for the pro-life movement here in Illinois,” Zander wrote. “Everywhere I go, I remind you that it is hard to be pro-life in Illinois. But let this be a reminder to you that your efforts do not go unseen or unheard. This is a fight worth fighting! We have to keep going!”

IRL previously confirmed the administration was circulating an internal memo analyzing a single-vote amendment to protect both so-called abortion and LGBTQ rights.

Pritzker demanded Illinois establish a constitutional protection for abortion during his 2023 inaugural address, but recently sidestepped questions about failing to push for it. He pointed to existing laws protecting abortion and insisted he remains the most pro-choice governor in state history.

Abortion supporters argue a costly constitutional amendment isn’t necessary right now because they have a stranglehold on the Legislature.

“We would have to elect a governor that didn’t believe that abortion is healthcare,” Sarah Garza Resnick told the Chicago Tribune. She leads a pro-abortion political action committee called Personal PAC. “We would have to lose the supermajorities in both chambers … of legislators who believe … that abortion is healthcare. Could that happen one day? Yes. Does that seem likely? No.”

Illinois would need to elect a conservative governor to undo what pro-choice Democrats have done and want to do.

The state continues to welcome women from neighboring conservative states seeking abortions. Nearly 1 in 4 patients who traveled across state lines for an abortion last year came to Illinois.