Forest Park’s village council voted unanimously Sept. 12 to approve a resolution urging the state government to declare Illinois an abortion sanctuary state.
With the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision striking down the legal precedent established by Roe v. Wade, states were free to implement abortion restrictions. Since then, Illinois has seen a surge of out-of-state patients seeking abortions, with many coming from neighboring Indiana, Missouri and Wisconsin. As some state legislatures weighed pursuing legal penalties against residents seeking out of state abortions, there has been a push to ensure that Illinois law enforcement agencies don’t cooperate with such investigations.
The Chicago City Council is expected to consider a measure applying this prohibition to the entire city during its Sept. 21 meeting.
