The Senate Executive Committee approved bills Wednesday to require public universities to offer medication abortion and allow Cook County public defenders to continue representing noncitizens moved to a different jurisdiction. 

House Bill 3709 would require public universities and community colleges with health centers to provide contraception and medication abortion. The measure is based on a referendum approved by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students, in which 80 percent of students voted in support of the health center providing medication abortion.  

The measure is backed by Gov. JB Pritzker, the Illinois Board of Higher Education and abortion advocacy groups.  

Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) questioned why the bill had removed that medication abortion must be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in order to be prescribed at the medical centers.   

Sen. Celina Villanueva (D-Chicago) said the change reflects uncertainty about if the drug will remain approved by the FDA. It’s a question that’s been raised throughout the legislative session, with a measure proposed to default to the World Health Organization instead of the FDA also being discussed.  

Villanueva said the bill is based on the current law, which states medication abortion is legal in Illinois.  

The measure passed 9-4 and now goes to the Senate for its third reading. Because the bill was amended in the Senate, it will have to go back to the House for a concurrent vote before going to the governor.  

The committee also approved House Bill 2436. The measure is an initiative of the Cook County Public Defender’s office that seeks to codify and clarify an existing rule in the office.  

That rule states that when a noncitizen is arrested within the boundaries of Cook County, their assigned public defender may continue to defend them even if they are moved outside of Cook County by immigration authorities.  

Rory McHale, director of legislative and external affairs for the Cook County Public Defender's Office, said the county currently has four attorneys who work on such cases to help immigrants navigate the system.  

Cook County public defenders have defended noncitizens in immigration court since 2021, when the General Assembly passed a bill allowing them to do so.  

But McHale said sometimes defendants are moved to a different jurisdiction.  

“For residents, as their case transfers to a different immigration court, we want to make sure that person still has the benefit of Cook County residents as authorized already in the statute to be represented by the Cook County Public Defender's Office,” he said.  

McHale said the hearings are completely remote, meaning there is no travel that could produce additional cost. He said he does not have a number for how much these services cost the office, as the attorneys in that division do other constitutionally mandated work.  

The measure only applies to Cook County.  

The measure was approved 9-4. It now goes to the Senate floor for its third reading. If approved, it will go to the governor for his signature.  

House Bill 1616 would extend an existing law that full-time employees be given paid time off when donating organs to part-time employees.  

The bill would provide 10 days off, with pay based on how much the employee had been paid on average in the previous two months. The measure was approved 8-4 and now goes to the Senate floor for its third reading. If approved, it will go to the governor.