(The Center Square) – The Illinois House has passed a bill which would allow medical providers in the state to continue prescribing abortion pills, even if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finds them to be unsafe.
Members voted Monday 67 to 39 in favor of state Rep. Dagmara Avelar’s House Bill 3637.
State Rep. Patrick Windhorst, R-Metropolis, asked Avelar, D-Bolingbrook, if her bill had been evaluated to see if it would violate federal law.
“We want to make sure when it comes to this particular issue, that FDA approval for medication abortion would not, or actually if the FDA were to take this medication out of its FDA approval, that it would not still ban or limit access to medication abortion in Illinois,” Avelar said.
Speaking on the House floor Monday afternoon, Avelar said her bill would not override federal law.
“What I would say is that, FDA approval for medication abortion, if the FDA revokes that, we would still in Illinois be able to have these drugs,” Avelar said.
State Rep. Bill Hauter, R-Morton, practices emergency medicine and anesthesiology in Peoria. Hauter urged a “no” vote.
“We are saying that approval by the World Health Organization but active rejection because of safety by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would be able to be prescribed in Illinois,” Hauter said.
Hauter called the bill “outrageous” and there should be safety when it comes to abortion and abortion clinics.
“We have to stop this sort of breaking down all of the safety mechanisms we have around abortion. There has to be some safety mechanisms, whether it be in the abortion clinic or with abortion mechanisms,” Hauter said. “Do not reject the authority of the U.S. federal drug administration. This is an important safety mechanism. This bill would reject that. This is unprecedented in my mind.”
House Bill 3637 would also protect medical providers who lose their licenses in other states, as long as their conduct was not unlawful in Illinois. Avelar said her bill would expand shield law protections to cover more licensed medical professionals.
