SPRINGFIELD (LifeSiteNews) — The Illinois legislature has passed a bill that allows women to hide information about past abortions on their medical records, obstructing out-of-state law enforcement efforts, potentially at the expense of their future health.

HB 5295, the so-called “Reproductive Health Privacy Act,” would segregate abortion-related medical records from a woman’s medical records on unrelated issues as well as “prevent the disclosure, access, transfer, transmission, or processing of medical information related to the provision of [so-called] abortion care to persons and entities outside of the State,” making it harder for other states to investigate interstate violations of their pro-life laws. 

The bill passed the Illinois House 73-34 and the state Senate 38-19, and now awaits a signature from far-left Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker. The governor has already confirmed that he will sign it, ostensibly to “fortify the protections around choice and consent, and that anyone receiving [so-called] safe, legal abortion care here will not be criminalized.”

While primarily billed as a way to reinforce Illinois as a “sanctuary” from neighboring pro-life states, Live Action notes the practical implications go further.

“We rely, as medical professionals, on the medical record to be complete and accurate and private,” said Republican state Rep. Bill Hauter, a doctor. “To say that this information is unimportant… ignores real-world scenarios where it could be critical to patient care.”

Abortion, which, despite persistent media narratives, is almost never sought for “medical” reasons and is never medically necessary, has long been known to carry significant risks on top of its intended lethality to preborn babies. Yet the industry overwhelmingly resists basic health and safety regulations, prioritizing maximum abortion “access” over patient welfare.

Abortion centers across the country are regularly flagged for harming women through botched procedures, unsanitary tools and environments, and lack of regulatory protections such as requirements for staff to secure admitting privileges at nearby hospitals in the event of complications. With the rise of groups dispensing abortion pills by mail in violation of federal law, chemical abortions self-administered completely without medical oversight are certain to increase those harms further still.

Even when “properly” committed, abortions still carry grave risks. According to the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), which represents 7,000 medical professionals who reject the left-wing beliefs of the medical establishment, “[w]omen face a 35% increased risk of preterm birth in a future pregnancy after one surgical abortion and an almost 90% increase in preterm birth risk after two abortions. The increased risk of future preterm birth for women after they have an abortion represents a clear long-term health risk. Mothers who deliver preterm babies are at a higher risk of medical complications later in life, including cardiovascular disease and stroke.”

Such concerns carry little weight in Illinois under Pritzker, however. The state has been among the most aggressive in the Union in shoring up virtually unlimited abortion. Last June, he signed legislation to ensure that abortion pills remain legal in the state even if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration withdraws approval, and last year he celebrated “Abortion Provider Appreciation Day” with a “thank you” to “doctors, nurses, clinic staff and volunteers” involved in abortions for their “compassion,” despite Illinois abortionists’ record of putting women in emergency rooms via botched procedures, in addition to killing unborn babies.

Last August, he signed two more laws to further aid the abortion industry, one ensuring abortion pills’ availability on college campuses and another shielding abortionists from out-of-state prosecutions for helping facilitate abortions in pro-life states. In February, he announced a partnership with the Michael Reese Health Trust to form the “Prairie State Access Fund” to subsidize abortions further still. 

As a result, Illinois continued to supply more abortions to out-of-state visitors than any other individual state in 2025, according to data from the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute. Illinois saw 32,000 abortions for non-Illinois residents, representing 23 percent of the 142,000 total abortions committed for women traveling across state lines last year.