Quincy Reporter

State Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) is pushing back against a bill awaiting Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s signature that would disallow the use of automatic license plate readers in abortion cases. 

Tracy said the law may have unintended consequences as written. 

"Under this law, a minor girl from Missouri could be brought to Illinois by her abuser to undergo an abortion, and that license plate data couldn't be used to bring him to justice," Tracy told the Center Square. "We're going to perhaps make this too broad and allow a true perpetrator and an abuser to go free and avoid prosecution." 

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias is advocating for House Bill 3326, which aims to protect individuals seeking abortion or reproductive health care in Illinois from penalties in their home states. The bill limits other states' access to automatic license plate reader (ALPR) data in Illinois for the purpose of penalizing out-of-state individuals seeking abortion services. While ALPRs are valuable tools for law enforcement, Giannoulias stressed the importance of regulating their use to prevent surveillance and the tracking of innocent people. The bill now awaits approval from Pritzker.

“Establishes that an ALPR user shall not sell, share, or transfer ALPR information, except to another local law enforcement agency, a local law enforcement agency of the State, the federal government, or a state other than Illinois, and only to the extent necessary to locate a vehicle or person reasonably suspected of being involved in the commission of a crime as defined by State or federal laws,” the bill’s synopsis reads. “Provides that an ALPR user shall not sell, share, or transfer ALPR information to any state that has enacted laws that deny or interfere with a woman's right to choose or obtain an abortion prior to viability of the fetus, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman for the purposes of investigation or enforcement of that law.”

After Roe v. Wade was overturned, Planned Parenthood expects the number of abortions in Illinois to quintuple to over 25,000 a year due to those from out of state traveling to Illinois for the procedure. Along the state's border with states controlled by Republicans, Planned Parenthood has opened a number of additional abortion clinics.