News & Commentary

The below statement can be attributed to Colleen Connell, Executive Director, ACLU of Illinois:

After a process that took a number of years, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) recently announced it would move children in its care to a managed care health plan on September 1st. The plan would be responsible for overseeing the provision of health care for these children.  

In early July, the U. S. Supreme Court upheld a Trump Administration rule that allows virtually any employer in the country to claim a religious or moral exemption in order to opt out of having to provide birth control coverage for employees. Every lower court to decide this issue found that the White House did not have authority to issue these harmful rules, which also apply to universities. It’s an extremely disappointing decision that undermines what Congress intended when it adopted the Affordable Care Act a decade ago. Congress meant for birth control to be provided at no cost under most health care plans. That coverage was a game-changer for people across the country. The Supreme Court’s decision creates the potential for a lot of people to lose this critical coverage.

The below statement can be attributed to Heidi Dalenberg, Director of the Institutional Reform Project, ACLU of Illinois:

The below statement can be attributed to Karen Sheley, Police Practices Project Director, ACLU of Illinois:

The evidence is clear: police officers have no place in public schools. In Chicago, more than 200 Chicago Police officers are assigned to the so-called “School Resource Officer” program. But rather than providing “resources” to students, this $33,000,000 program staffs police at predominantly Black and brown schools —police who have been shown to abuse and criminalize young people of color, including when kids are just acting like kids. 

The below statement can be attributed to Karen Sheley, Director, Police Practices Project, ACLU of Illinois: 

This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, finding that it imposed an unconstitutional restriction on access to the procedure.

Today, the Pritzker administration announced it had released legal guidance that affirms Illinois nondiscrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The below statement can be attributed to John Knight, LGBTQ & HIV Advocacy Director, ACLU of Illinois: “We congratulate Governor Pritzker and his Administration for reinforcing their commitment to assuring that all Illinois residents have access to the health care they need, including LGBTQ residents. The specific inclusion of gender-affirming surgery for those insured through Illinois’ Medicaid program is especially welcome. As the Trump Administration continues in its efforts to deny health care and basic dignity to people who are transgender, Illinois is embracing and respecting the dignity of all Illinoisans. No one should be turned away by health care providers or denied the care they need because they are LGBTQ.”