"[This bill will] remove the right to conscientious objection to abortion and related procedures for all health care workers."

The truth is that the bill protects the individual. Any medical provider can object and walk away, but they must ensure that the patient's rights are honored. This means that Dr. Smith can object, but it does not mean that Hospital Smith can object.

This bill is progressive and comprehensive, yet opponents continue to focus on abortion as they know that the large majority of people, including Catholics, support sex education, access to birth control and a woman's decision on how to birth her baby. The Illinois Reproductive Health and Access Act bars the government from interfering with anyone's ability to use birth control, carry a pregnancy to term or terminate a pregnancy. The bill requires all Illinois public schools to teach medically accurate, age appropriate, comprehensive sex education.  Parents would be allowed to remove their children from classes if they don't want them to participate. The bill makes sure that government-funded health care programs, like Medicaid, cover basic reproductive health care services like family planning, pre-natal care, and pap tests as they do for other health care services. Opponents understand that playing the abortion card will get them press and may deafen the ears of those who otherwise would be supporting the bill.

But the momentum is the coalition's favor. Polling shows that 71% of Illinoisans support this bill, even with the abortion provisions. As of this writing, three state constitutional officers are in support (Attorney General, Lisa Madigan, State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, and Secretary of State Jesse White) of the bill. Yet state elected officials have been bombarded by calls from opponents of this bill. That is why the coalition is asking everyone to please call your state representatives and tell them you want them to vote YES on a comprehensive reproductive health bill for Illinois.

Some may question the need for this bill with the country under the leadership of a pro-choice President and pro-choice Congress. The answer is that if those things change, this law will be here for the women of Illinois. The U.S. Supreme Court is still split on Roe v. Wade and one can't quite tell what they would do if they got the chance to overturn Roe today. But more important is that this bill does not focus on just access to abortion or the legality of abortion in Illinois. This bill is about ensuring that no woman be forced to carry to term a pregnancy or forced to terminate her pregnancy. It is about ensuring our children's right to medically accurate sexuality education, if we so choose, in their schools. It is about ensuring that a woman in the ER has access to the morning after pill after a rape. It is about ensuring that a woman's right to choose extends to every choice a woman has to make about whether, how and when to become a mother in the state of Illinois.

Because anti-choice forces are so well-organized in Illinois, women in our state can face serious challenges to accessing reproductive health care. The battle is not relegated to cities and towns outside of Chicago. In 2006, a pharmacist in Chicago refused to fill a woman's prescription for contraception. And the recent fight to open the new health center in Aurora made it clear that the pro-choice community must find a way to mobilize its advocates as effectively as the opposition. It demonstrated how critical it is that we ensure that the right to access reproductive health care services - including abortion services - is protected on a state level.

And there's little comfort the federal government will provide adequate protection for reproductive rights. With the Roberts and Alito Supreme Court appointments, and last year's decision on the Federal Abortion Ban, the status of Roe looks more and more precarious. If John McCain wins in November, he's likely to nominate the anti-choice justice who would help to overturn Roe.

That's why the pro-choice community, and many of its allies in Illinois, have come together to support the Reproductive Justice and Access Act (RJAA), or House Bill 5610. Introduced in February by Illinois State Representative Barbara Flynn Currie, the RJAA would do the following:

• Ensure that each individual has as many options as possible when it comes to making decisions about their own reproductive heath care.
• Reduce unintended pregnancies through comprehensive sex education rather than abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.
• Protect and expand access to birth control (including emergency contraception) for all individuals in Illinois.
• Ensure that the government cannot interfere with an individual's right to have a child or to terminate a pregnancy.

The RJAA would ensure that no matter what an individual's unique social and economic circumstances happen to be, each one of us has the right to make personal decisions about our bodies, our health care, and our reproduction without government interference. This includes access to funding for pregnancy and abortion services. It would also ensure that each individual has accurate information and access to a full range of reproductive health services including pre-natal care, access to adoption services and the ability to safely terminate a pregnancy. Gaylon Alcaraz, Executive Director of the Chicago Abortion Fund, puts the importance of this bill to the women CAF serves this way: "This is a true opportunity to give women full control over their reproductive health, birth control options with access and a way to pay for it. It would give them some true freedom."

To be successful, this bill will require 60 votes in a chamber that is not always majority pro-choice. The battle is uphill, but activists are optimistic. Too many elected officials in Illinois complain about the rate of unintended pregnancies, yet vote for policies that deny access to contraception and teach our children myths about sexuality that leave them unprotected and unprepared. This bill ensures that all Illinois citizens will have access to information that will help reduce abortions. While some elected officials may balk at supporting a bill that ensures abortion access, they may be won over by the incorporation of medically accurate sex education in the classroom.

This bill is broad and has something for everyone to get behind and support. Not everyone voting for it will like every aspect, but advocates hope legislators will find enough that they do like in it to sign on and pass this bill into law. "Illinois NOW is proud to be working on this exciting new legislation. We are committed to work for as long as it takes to pass the Reproductive Justice and Access Act," stated Susan Bramlet-Lavin, Executive Director.

What will make this fight easier is the wide range of allies coming together to turn the bill into law. The big guns are present - the Illinois affiliates of Planned Parenthood, NOW, and the ACLU - but so are smaller state-wide organizations that represent women of color, youth, persons with disabilities, and other organizations most would not think of as pro-choice - organizations such as the AAUW, National Council on Jewish Women, and Mujeres Latinas en Accion. The coalition is broad because the basic idea that women should have access to information and make their own decisions transcends ethnicity, class, and even political background. President and CEO of Mujeres Latina en Accion Maria Pesqueira says her organization is proud to stand behind this bill:

"All women should have options and access to information to make the healthiest decision for whatever situation they are in. Latinas are the least insured in Illinois and the nation. We have the highest rate of cervical cancer and are the fastest growing population for HIV infection for those in marriages. Despite a national trend downwards in teen pregnancies, Latinas continue to climb. These are all reasons why reproductive issues matter to our community."

Illinois, which earned a B- on the latest NARAL Pro-Choice America report card, has been described as an oasis in a desert of anti-choice laws. Surrounding Illinois are Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, and, for good measure, Michigan. These states in total earned a C+, D, and four Fs, respectively, on the latest NARAL Pro-Choice America "Who Decides?" report card. It's critical that we pass this legislation, not only for women in Illinois, but for the women in our region who count on our state to be a safe haven for access to reproductive health services.

To find out how you can get involved in the fight for Ilinois's reproductive justice bill, visit www.plannedparenthoodaction.org.