CHICAGO — Chicago will ban its police officers from assisting out-of-state law enforcement in investigating people who travel here for abortions under an executive order signed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday.
The new directive comes a month after the U.S. Supreme Court ended nearly 50 years of constitutional protection for abortion in a stunning overturning of Roe v. Wade, leaving Illinois as the Midwest’s haven state for the procedure or medication that has been banned in about half the country since then.
In rolling out the executive order at a news conference, Lightfoot said other states were engaged in a “race to the bottom,” with a rash of recent legislation in states that in some cases include no exceptions for rape or incest. There have also been laws cracking down on those who get or aid in abortions by subjecting them to lawsuits or arrest.
