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A bill that would compel Illinois public universities to provide, prescribe, and even promote abortion drugs is now one signature away from becoming law.
House Bill 3709 passed the state senate May 31 and is now awaiting action from Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker. If signed, the bill would require schools to refer students to abortion providers and, where pharmacies are available on campus, directly distribute abortion drugs like mifepristone, according to a May 20 press release from Illinois Right to Life.
The bill would also mandate that universities include information about chemical abortion on their websites, elevating the practice to the level of essential student health care.
Illinois Right to Life warned this bill places students — particularly young women — at serious risk.
“These drugs are dangerous for women,” the pro-life organization stated, “and there is absolutely no reason students on university campuses should be committing their own abortions, ending the lives of their preborn child, and putting their own lives at risk.”
Chemical abortion, which involves a two-pill regimen beginning with mifepristone, is the most common form of abortion in the US. It accounted for over 630,000 abortions last year alone, according to Illinois Right to Life. However, growing medical data points to alarming safety concerns.
A recent analysis by the Ethics & Public Policy Center examined over 865,000 insurance claims between 2017 and 2023 and found that nearly 11% of women suffered severe complications — including sepsis, hemorrhage, and infection — within 45 days of taking mifepristone. That figure is 22 times higher than indicated on the drug’s label approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Earlier this year, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced “a complete review” of mifepristone and its impact on women’s health, citing increasing concerns over its safety profile.
