Aprile Rickert

The number of people traveling to Illinois from other states has steadily risen over the past five years to about 10,000 a year, according to data from Illinois’ public health department. “People are coming into Illinois from as far as Texas, from as far as Kentucky, just all across the nation right now,” said Megan Jeyifo, director of the Chicago Abortion Fund.

“Last year the general assembly passed an act that, if this [Supreme Court] draft opinion goes through, will create a total ban in Kentucky,” Gov. Andy Beshear said. “And that means victims of rape or incest, even the youngest of Kentuckians will have no options. Being a former prosecutor who fought for justice for those individuals, they should have those options, and I think most Kentuckians would agree with that.”

Just over two months after Kentucky Republicans filed a sweeping bill restricting abortion in the state, it’s become law. Now, court cases are ongoing as the ACLU and Planned Parenthood try to get the law blocked.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has filed a petition for a state court of appeals to rehear a twice struck down law banning dilation and evacuation abortions after 11 weeks — a common procedure in the second trimester.

House Bill 1041, which passed the Senate March 1 in a 66-30 vote, would prevent students designated male “based on a student’s biological sex at birth in accordance with the student’s genetics and reproductive biology” from participating in a girl’s or women’s team. The measure includes a grievance process for parents.

A recent report ranked Indiana last in terms of access to comprehensive public health systems, showing that in 2018, only a quarter of residents had access. The ranking is one of several metrics that put Indiana and 12 other states — including Kentucky — in the bottom tier for state emergency preparedness in 2021.

During the omicron peak, there were several days in January when the Indiana Department of Health reported new cases surpassing 17,000. On Tuesday in Indiana, there were just 302 new daily cases.

Senate Republicans passed Joint Senate Resolution 150 in a 28-8 vote last Thursday, with all Democrats voting against it. It would effectively end the state of emergency March 7, not in April as the legislature recently approved.

Starting Monday, masks will be optional for some students in Southwest Indiana. Some school districts will also stop contact tracing, and students and staff will have to quarantine only if they’ve tested positive for COVID-19.

Although the highly contagious omicron variant is less severe overall than previous strains, it’s still putting a strain on hospitals similar to the delta variant, with 2,200 people currently hospitalized in Kentucky with COVID.