Congressman García, State Sen. Celina Villanueva Meet with Reproductive Health Advocates
CHICAGO– Congressman Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04) and IL State Senator Celina Villanueva met yesterday with stakeholders in the field of reproductive health to discuss the current challenges of reproductive rights in their communities. The roundtable also focused on working with advocates to identify opportunities for the protection and advancement of reproductive rights. Participants included representatives from Planned Parenthood of Illinois, Mujeres Latinas en Acción, ACLU of Illinois, Chicago Abortion Fund, University of Chicago, Healthy Communities Foundation, Equality Illinois, Cook County Health, EverThrive Illinois, and the AIDS Foundation Chicago.
“Expanding reproductive rights is a critical part of protecting the health and lives of millions of individuals, who have seen their access to care jeopardized by extreme Republicans’ attack on reproductive freedom,” said Rep. García. “In Illinois, we will always defend people’s right to make their own decisions on health care and their bodies. In Washington, I continue fighting to protect reproductive freedoms and to protect our health care providers.
“Abortion is health care and everyone, no matter their income, immigration status or zip code should be able to have access to it,” said State Sen. Villanueva. “We must keep working in partnership with our local advocates to ensure Chicago continues to be a safe haven in the Midwest and to ensure the organizations that offer reproductive health services can help all who seek help, whether from Illinois or from other states.”
“Our work is done in partnerships across the state, including with legislators like Senator Villanueva and Representative García, who are two critical champions for this issue,” said Alicia Hurtado, Movement Building Director at the Chicago Abortion Fund. “The Chicago Abortion Fund supported in writing language for the Reproductive Health Travel Fund Act and we are grateful to have legislators in office that recognize that folks having to travel for abortion access is unsustainable and truly should not be happening as we look to a future where people can access health care in their own communities.”
“I want to thank our elected officials for understanding and appreciating the work the reproductive care community has been doing and communicating to our legislators the urgency of supporting and protecting health care, because when we do that, we are protecting and supporting our reproductive care,” said Dr. Maritza Gonzalez, Maternal Field Medicine Specialist, OB-GYN Assistant professor at University of Chicago.
Photos of the event can be found here.
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