Overview
- Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed HB 3709 and HB 3637 on Aug. 25, establishing new access rules and legal safeguards for reproductive care in Illinois.
- HB 3709 requires public institutions with student-health services to offer contraception and medication abortion, with campus services starting in the 2025–26 academic year.
- Illinois becomes the first state in the Midwest to mandate on-campus access to medication abortion and contraception at public universities, according to advocates and supportive reporting.
- HB 3637 expands the state’s shield law to protect a wide range of providers from out-of-state legal actions and allows certain medications to be prescribed for the next decade even if federal approval is revoked.
- Student organizers helped shape the campus-access policy, while Republican lawmakers criticized the measures as prioritizing abortion over pregnancy supports and raising oversight concerns.