Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin physicians are traveling to Illinois to provide abortions, increasing access to the procedure after the fall of Roe v. Wade

With the fall of Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood officials in Illinois and Wisconsin have launched a partnership to increase abortion access, which includes physicians and other staff from Wisconsin traveling across state lines to provide abortion care at a clinic in Waukegan.

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin suspended abortion services after June 24, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that guaranteed the right to terminate a pregnancy.

“During this time, we’ve seen a tenfold increase in patients from Wisconsin coming for care to Illinois,” Jennifer Welch, Planned Parenthood of Illinois president and CEO, said at a news conference Thursday. “This is clear evidence that abortion restrictions and bans do not stop people from having abortions. Restrictions and bans only make it harder for people to access essential reproductive health care where they live.”

Wisconsin providers began working in the Waukegan clinic last week. All Wisconsin clinicians who are traveling here to work will be licensed in Illinois, Planned Parenthood officials said.

“The majority of the team in Wisconsin providing abortion care have stepped up to travel to Illinois to serve that patient need,” said Kristen Schultz, chief strategy and operations officer at Planned Parenthood of Illinois, during the news conference.

A Planned Parenthood of Illinois spokeswoman would not say exactly how many Wisconsin abortion providers, clinicians and other staff would be working in the Waukegan clinic, citing security reasons. She would not elaborate on what those security reasons were.

Wisconsin providers will also offer abortion services via telehealth appointments, but patients must physically be in Illinois during the visit, Planned Parenthood officials said. Planned Parenthood of Illinois began mailing abortion pills to patients who qualify for the service, but the medication must be sent to an Illinois address; patients can also pick up abortion pills at a Planned Parenthood health center, the organization said.

Planned Parenthood affiliates in both states are also providing designated “abortion navigators” that help patients with travel arrangements, finding funding to cover the cost of the procedure and other resources.

During the news conference, Welch described the case of one patient who had an abortion scheduled at a Planned Parenthood in Wisconsin the day after Roe was overturned. Her appointment had to be canceled but she still needed care quickly. The single mom of young twins also had to coordinate child care in addition to travel arrangements.

Planned Parenthood was able to get her an abortion appointment a few days later at the Waukegan clinic. Wisconsin provided support for transportation and gas money, and Illinois provided financial assistance for the abortion, Welch said.

“So that patient got the care she needed,” Welch said. “Sadly this story is not unique. We’ve seen a tremendous increase in patients coming from Wisconsin to all Illinois Planned Parenthood health centers.”

After the fall of Roe, the matter of abortion rights has to be decided by individual states. Illinois established abortion as a “fundamental right” in the 2019 Reproductive Health Act. But nearly every other state in the Midwest is expected to either ban the procedure or significantly curtail access.

Wisconsin, for example, has an 1849 law that almost entirely bans abortion, which was previously unenforceable under Roe. Planned Parenthood clinics in Wisconsin still provide other health services, including birth control, pregnancy testing, pregnancy-related services and gender-affirming care, officials said.

Planned Parenthood of Illinois has predicted 20,000 to 30,000 more patients will be traveling to Illinois each year to terminate a pregnancy now that Roe has fallen.

That influx is on top of the thousands of patients who already cross state lines to come to Illinois to terminate a pregnancy. In 2020, nearly 10,000 patients came to Illinois to have an abortion, according to the most recent data from the Illinois Department of Public Health. The number of out-of-state abortions has increased annually since 2014.

The Waukegan clinic, which is roughly 10 miles from the Wisconsin border, opened in 2020 in anticipation that Roe would someday be overturned and reproductive rights would be at risk in Wisconsin, Planned Parenthood of Illinois officials said.

“The proximity to Wisconsin — a state that poses stringent legal barriers to abortion — was a critical factor in choosing the location,” Welch had said in a statement at the time.

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