1 in 4 women crossing state lines for abortions traveled to Illinois in 2025

[mucifer]

Illinois by far remained the most popular destination nationally among patients who had to cross state lines to obtain abortion services in 2025, according to a new report from a prominent abortion-rights organization

Illinois-based providers performed nearly 1 out of 4 four abortions for patients seeking the procedure outside of their home state, often as a result of outright abortion bans or prohibitive restrictions where they live.

The data from the Guttmacher Institute shows no other state came close to Illinois in terms of volume last year, with providers here performing the procedure at a rate nearly double the state with the next highest level of abortions on out-of-state patients, North Carolina.

Since two-term Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker took office in 2019, he has moved to preserve and strengthen access to abortion rights in Illinois even as the U.S. Supreme Court embraced tighter restrictions on the procedure and gave states authority to impose total bans.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/abortion/2026/04/03/illinois-abortion-safe-haven-out-of-state-patients-2025-report

[RandySF]

1. For a large portion of Mordor it's the closest safe haven.

[Munu]

4. Mordor?

You mean Indiana?

[Midnight Writer]

5. Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Ohio, Mississippi, Alabama

Illinois is within a 6-hour drive for most of these Red States that have outlawed abortion. Some of these Red States even regulate non-abortion health care services for women, such as pre-natal care.

Illinois is a Blue Island in a sea of Red.

[Midnight Writer]

2. Under Governor Pritzker, Illinois has expanded women's healthcare clinics and services.

They opened a new women's clinic near me two years ago.

Illinois has also become a "tourist destination" for weed users. We are smack in the middle of some very regressive Red States.

[Munu]

3. Yay us, I guess.

Too bad it's necessary.

[ShazzieB]

6. I'm proud to be an Illinoisian these days.

Not just because of this, but for lots of reasons. I had no idea we were the top destination for people who need to leave their own states for abortion care, but when you look at our location on the map, it makes a ton of sense.

It sucks that so many red states have either banned abortion outright or enacted restrictive laws that make it harder than it needs to be, but I'm glad my state is in a position (geographically and otherwise) to offer hope to so many.