Illinois is first Midwest state to ensure college students' medication, abortion access

Illinois has became the first state in the Midwest to guarantee public university and college students' access to abortion and medication.

The bill was signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker (D-Illinois) on Aug. 22. It ensures the access through campus health services or licensed external providers.

"To work on implementation, we have a partnership with an external pharmacy that does a lot of our pharmacy services," said Zach Messersmith, the government and public relations director at Western Illinois University. "We'll work with them to make sure we're understanding of the new law, compliant, moving forward."

The law requires universities to provide access for students beginning with the 2025-26 school year.

"We are providing healthcare that students need, that students want," said Messersmith. "We will continue to do that and continue to provide healthcare that students need and request."

This adds onto a law Pritzker signed in 2023 that required emergency contraception on public campuses and universities.

"To allow for 24-hour access to items such as Plan B," said Messersmith. "When that law came through, we obviously updated our policies to match as well, and we'll do something similar with this new law."

The law also includes a reinforced shield law. It protects health services from any potential out-of-state prosecution.