CHICAGO (AP) – The city of Chicago is allocating $ 500,000 to expand access to abortion, especially for the poor and colored people, as the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to repeal the nationwide right to legal abortion.
Mayor Laurie Lightfoot said Monday that the money would go to providers, as well as organizations such as the Chicago Abortion Fund and the Midwest Access Coalition, which provide housing, transportation, food and other support to people seeking abortion. Funding will be available to Chicagoans and people from across the United States
A draft Supreme Court opinion A leak last week suggested the court overturn a landmark 1973 decision, Rowe v. Wade.
“So we have to be ready and we have to step up,” Lightfoot said.
Chicago and Illinois are already seeing an increase in people from outside the state seeking abortion because it is surrounded by states that have restricted access in recent years. If the court rules as expected, the Planned Parenthood of Illinois is preparing to double the five-fold increase in the number of patients now taking abortions, said Jennifer Welch, president and CEO of the organization.
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“Millions of people find themselves in a vast desert of abortion,” Welch said. “And here Illinois is an oasis for care.”
Lightfoot said the $ 500,000 coming from the city’s health and environmental budget could increase in the coming years.
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