Just over four months after the United State Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and caused public outcry across the country, Illinois medical experts and Protect Our Court on Monday came together to emphasize the importance of reproductive rights in the upcoming general election. This November in Illinois, the 2nd and 3rd district Supreme Court seats are on the ballot and will determine the balance of the state Supreme Court. “Let’s be clear, Curran and Burke want to bring Dobbs and abortion restrictions to Illinois. I did not go to medical school for four years and spend six years training in obstetrics and gynecology to sit on the sidelines,” said Dr. Allison Cowett. “We must protect our courts from these extreme judicial candidates who will do everything in their power to come between us as physicians and patients’ fundamental rights to choose abortion.”

Joined by more than a dozen doctors, nurses and medical experts from hospitals and clinics across greater Chicagoland, representatives stressed the growing concern for access to safe, legal reproductive health care. The World Health Organization reported in 2017 that the United States was one of two countries to report a significant increase in the maternal mortality ratio. With reproductive rights on the line in states across the country, Illinois activists and medical experts fear that without thoughtful justices in the court, Illinois will face the same fate. “Our reproductive freedoms, specifically a patient’s ability to safe and comprehensive reproductive healthcare, and our ability to do our jobs as clinicians are at stake,” said Dr. Sadia Haider. “Candidates for the Illinois Supreme Court, Mark Curran and Michael Burke, have a track record of anti-abortion ideology and they pose a significant threat to reproductive rights in Illinois. As a healthcare provider, the possibility that Curran and Burke could be elected and could lead to an anti-abortion, conservative Supreme Court is a horrifying prospect for me and for the patients I take care of.”