Illinois will release less abortion data in an effort to protect patients and providers
A year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Illinois will no longer report the specific state where out-of-state abortion patients live.
By Kristen Schorsch
Illinois will release less abortion data in an effort to protect patients and providers
A year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Illinois will no longer report the specific state where out-of-state abortion patients live.
By Kristen SchorschA year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration is changing how Illinois — an abortion haven in the Midwest — is collecting and releasing data to the public about who receives an abortion around the state.
The announcement on Friday from the Illinois Department of Public Health says the new policy aims to “protect the privacy and safety of those who receive abortions and abortion providers.”
Abortion is banned or heavily restricted across much of the South and Midwest, which has fueled a big rise in out-of-state patients seeking abortion care in Illinois.
Since Roe fell, who can get an abortion and where has been complicated by vague state laws and fear. Doctors are afraid they could lose their medical licenses or wind up in jail. Patients fear they could be prosecuted for traveling across state lines.
WBEZ has documented how doctors in states that have banned abortion are turning away high-risk patients — directing them to come to Illinois for medical help — even though these states have exceptions to save the life of the mother.
In its statement, the Illinois public health department said its policy shift is abiding by recent amendments to the Illinois Reproductive Health Act. Those changes aim to further protect the privacy of patients who receive abortions and the providers who perform them.
The department argues it is now “simplifying” the type of data it collects about abortions from health care providers, and will provide less information to the public. The state will report aggregate-level data about the total number of abortions provided to Illinois and out-of-state residents, as well as the age range of people who receive abortions, the gestational age and the number of procedural and medication abortions provided.
But, Illinois will no longer report the number of abortions by county or by the specific state where out-of-state abortion patients live.
Illinois has long shielded from the public the full picture of who gets an abortion. This secrecy, which is unusual for public health data, has a long history in Illinois. It hearkens back to the years after Roe made access to abortion a constitutional right in 1973.
After Roe fell, many doctors and community leaders who work in reproductive rights told WBEZ they were torn between the desire to know more about who is getting an abortion so they could understand gaps in care, with the need to protect patients’ privacy.
Also on Friday, the Illinois public health department released abortion data from 2021, which came out a year late. There were nearly 52,000 abortions performed — a 12% percent increase in total patients from 2020. In 2021, 77% of the patients were Illinois residents, state public health data show. That’s roughly the same percent of in-state patients as in 2020.
Kristen Schorsch covers public health and Cook County for WBEZ.