Embarking on a second term about six months after the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority struck down the federal right to abortion, Gov. JB Pritzker declared in his January 2023 inaugural address that the new realities facing those seeking the procedure “demand that we establish a constitutional protection for reproductive rights in Illinois.”

In the four legislative sessions since, however, Pritzker and the Democratic-controlled Illinois General Assembly have taken no visible steps toward realizing that goal. The lack of action in Springfield ahead of a Sunday deadline for lawmakers to place constitutional amendment referendums on the Nov. 3 ballot guarantees Pritzker will end his second term without voters having an opportunity to decide whether abortion rights should be enshrined in the Illinois Constitution.

Undoubtedly, Illinois law contains some of the strongest protections for abortion rights in the nation, and Democratic lawmakers continue to pass measures to protect access for the state’s residents and for the many out-of-state patients who come to Illinois to receive services. But the absence of a public push to change the state constitution reflects what abortion rights supporters see as a more urgent situation in Republican-controlled states, as well as the challenge of passing an amendment that requires approval by three-fifths majorities in both legislative chambers and by voters.

For Pritzker, a billionaire governor who has spent millions of dollars supporting similar abortion rights efforts in other states, the lack of action in Illinois cracks the door to criticism that his focus is divided as he campaigns this year for a rare third term in Springfield and considers a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028. By tabling a possible constitutional amendment, Democrats also have handed abortion rights opponents a rare opportunity to declare a victory in a state led by the self-proclaimed “most pro-choice governor in the entire nation.”

Pritzker last week sidestepped questions about whether he still thinks Illinois needs to write abortion rights into the state constitution and whether he would prioritize the issue if he wins reelection in November’s rematch with Republican nominee Darren Bailey, a conservative former lawmaker from southern Illinois and staunch opponent of abortion rights.

“I don’t think there’s anybody who would challenge that I have been the most pro-choice governor in the history of the state of Illinois,” Pritzker said Thursday at an unrelated news conference, pointing to a number of protections he’s signed into law since taking office. That includes the Reproductive Health Act, a measure approved in his first months in office that codified access to abortion as a “fundamental right” under state law.

“I have made it abundantly clear that if you are seeking refuge from another state where they have outlawed abortion, that we will do everything we can to make available to you the services that you need,” Pritzker said. “So we’ve done everything that’s in our power, and we have enshrined into law in the state of Illinois all of the things that I just said and much more.”

Pivoting to the national level, Pritzker said he has called for an abortion rights amendment to the U.S. Constitution and noted his support for pro-abortion rights ballot measures in states from Ohio to Nevada. Much of that support, both financial and political, has come through Think Big America, a dark-money organization he founded in late 2023.

Abortion-related measures could be on the ballot in at least five other states this year, according to the health policy organization KFF. That includes a second vote in Nevada to confirm a successful 2024 referendum Pritzker supported and a push by conservative groups in Missouri to repeal an amendment voters approved the same year.

Despite his previous call for an Illinois state constitutional amendment, “I don’t think anybody feels like this government or this legislature or the state of Illinois is aiming to take away their reproductive rights,” Pritzker said. The governor’s statement is a reflection of Democratic dominance in Springfield, where since 2003 the party has controlled both chambers of the legislature and the governor’s office — save for the single term of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, who angered many fellow members of the GOP by signing a law expanding abortion access.

With Republican-led states enacting new restrictions since the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision and in some cases targeting patients who seek abortion services in more permissive states, time, energy and money are better spent passing amendments elsewhere and shoring up protections for Illinois providers and their patients, said state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, a Chicago Democrat who was one of the lead sponsors of the 2019 Reproductive Health Act that Pritzker signed into law.

“Do I wish that our (state) constitution had those protections? Yes,” Cassidy said. “Do I think we’re at risk right now (because of the absence of an amendment)? No.”

For the time being, Cassidy said, her focus remains on helping push proposals through the legislature that protect and increase access for patients who need abortion and other reproductive health services.

One such measure, which was approved in the House last month and is awaiting action in the Senate, aims to shield abortion-related electronic medical records created in Illinois from being obtained by providers in states that have enacted laws aiming to restrict access to out-of-state services.

State Sen. Celina Villanueva, a fellow Chicago Democrat and Cassidy’s counterpart on many abortion-related measures in the legislature, shares the long-term goal of a state constitutional amendment but likewise thinks the more pressing matter is continuing to strengthen specific protections in state law.

Last year, for example, Pritzker signed into law a measure Villanueva sponsored that requires public colleges and universities that have on-campus pharmacies or student health centers to provide contraceptives and medication abortion.

The state also has to continue to be on guard against actions from President Donald Trump’s administration that impact access not just to abortion but also to social safety net programs such as food and medical assistance, Villanueva said.

As for the timing of a possible amendment effort, “I don’t have a crystal ball, so I don’t know what the future holds,” Villanueva said. “I’m trying to keep my energy up to keep the fight up because … it has been a bumpy couple of years (since the 2024 election) and it’s going to be a bumpier couple of years (ahead).”

While lawmakers’ attention is divided among a broad range of issues, even abortion rights advocates haven’t been putting public pressure on Pritzker or legislative Democrats to push for a state constitutional amendment.

That’s in large part because any efforts by conservatives to undo the existing protections for abortion rights under Illinois law would require a seismic shift in the state’s political landscape, said Sarah Garza Resnick, president and CEO of Personal PAC, a pro-abortion rights political action committee.

“We would have to elect a governor that didn’t believe that abortion is healthcare,” Garza Resnick said. “We would have to lose the supermajorities in both chambers … of legislators who believe … that abortion is healthcare. Could that happen one day? Yes. Does that seem likely? No.”

But on the national level, the Supreme Court’s decision unleashed “a public healthcare crisis across this country,” she said.

Even in a state like Illinois, an abortion rights amendment campaign would be “an incredibly expensive endeavor,” potentially unleashing tens of millions of dollars in spending by supporters and opponents, Garza Resnick said.

“Frankly, what I’m interested in right now, since we have a legally protected right, is helping as many human beings as possible, and that is what Illinois is doing,” she said.

Last year, nearly 1 in 4 patients who traveled across state lines for an abortion came to Illinois, making it the leading state three years in a row, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion rights research group.

Planned Parenthood Illinois Action, the political arm of the reproductive health services provider, didn’t respond directly when asked whether the organization thinks an abortion rights amendment to the Illinois Constitution is needed, but in a statement, Mike Ziri, the group’s senior director of public policy, praised the “strong legislative action that has made our state a safe haven for care.”

“We are deeply grateful to our champions in Springfield and look forward to continuing this work to further solidify Illinois as an equitable, full-spectrum provider of care for everyone,” Ziri said.

Political considerations also are at play in determining the timing of a possible constitutional amendment campaign, something Villanueva acknowledged by saying one consideration is whether a presidential election year would be a better time.

The effect such a ballot measure could have on voter turnout is also a consideration, said Connie Mixon, a political science professor at Elmhurst University.

“This particular constitutional amendment will increase voter turnout (on both sides), which is unlikely to be needed by Democrats this cycle,” Mixon said. “With Pritzker running for a third term, Democrats might also be cautious about encouraging higher Republican turnout, even though the odds favor another win for the incumbent.”

Amending the Illinois Constitution requires approval from 60% of those who vote on the question, or a simple majority of all ballots cast in the election, a higher bar than in some other states. While abortion measures have topped 60% approval in several states, a proposed Florida abortion rights amendment in 2024 failed to cross that state’s 60% threshold, with 57% voting in favor.

Holding off allows Illinois Democrats to avoid a potentially contentious intraparty debate over whether to pursue an amendment focused solely on abortion or whether to try for something more expansive, like an amendment approved by 62% of New York voters in 2024, that also covers access to care for transgender individuals.

Regardless, for now, abortion rights opponents are counting the lack of forward progress on an Illinois amendment as a victory.

Despite the lack of public activity on the issue, records that Illinois Right to Life, a leading abortion rights opponent, obtained from the Pritzker administration earlier this year show internal deliberations over the subject.

The records, which the group obtained through an open records request, include an August 2025 email from an outside law firm to a Pritzker administration attorney with the subject line, “Memo Analyzing Ability to Submit to a Single Vote Proposed Constitutional Amendments Protecting Both Reproductive Freedom and LGBTQ Rights.” The memo itself was not released.

Mary Kate Zander, president of Illinois Right to Life, said the group’s supporters have flooded the inboxes of the governor’s office and lawmakers with messages opposing the amendment.

The fact that Pritzker and legislative Democrats aren’t moving forward with an amendment is “a huge win for pro-life in Illinois,” Zander said, crediting the effort for quelling any potential momentum for an amendment.

But how significant a win that really is remains to be seen as Pritzker and Democrats ramp up their reelection efforts in the coming months with an eye toward strengthening their control in Springfield.