Illinois officials investigate license-plate data shared with police seeking woman who had abortion
Source: AP
Updated 3:54 PM EDT, June 12, 2025
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois secretary of state on Thursday asked for an investigation into a suburban Chicago police department after learning that it violated state law by sharing data from automatic license-plate readers with a Texas sheriff seeking a woman who had an abortion.
Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias asked the attorney general to review the matter. He also is creating an audit system to ensure police departments don’t run afoul of a 2023 law banning the distribution of license-plate data to track women seeking abortions or to find undocumented immigrants.
The incident underscores the fears that led to the law: In particular, that states which restricted abortion access after Roe v. Wade was overturned would use the technology to follow and possibly prosecute women seeking the procedure by crossing into Illinois, where it is readily available.
“License plate readers can serve as an important tool for law enforcement, but these cameras must be regulated so they aren’t abused for surveillance, tracking the data of innocent people or criminalizing lawful behavior,” the Democrat said in a statement.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/abortion-access-immigration-license-plate-readers-surveillance-13fac7c045df3c5e5145f6d4e4c4db28
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Seriously, there are things called “zombie laws” because while superseded by Roe they were never actually taken off the books in their states. Thus when SCOTUS overturned Roe vs Wade and threw it back to the 50 states, those laws could be brought back into effect.
Red state fanatics, ideologues, and state legislatures lusted for such results. Texas (wait for it) instituted a bounty law, leading me and at least one cartoonist to immediately think of Runaway Slave laws. No joke, not even a little bit.
From Horsey, 2022
