00:00That Republican web is literally killing women.
00:04And let's be clear, there is nothing pro-life about a mother whose death could have been prevented.
00:10A.B. Britsker.
00:32Thank you all very much.
00:34Thank you, thank you, thank you.
00:36Good afternoon, personal PAC.
00:39Can we give a round of applause first for all the servers and bussers and cooks and everyone taking care
00:47of us this afternoon?
00:53Everyone in this room is a true champion for reproductive freedom.
00:58Decades of advocacy have made Illinois the most welcoming and protective state in the nation for women seeking to exercise
01:06their fundamental right to bodily autonomy.
01:14You did that.
01:16You all did that.
01:19Terry Cosgrove did that.
01:24Sarah Garza Resnick is doing that.
01:32Natalie Federally is doing that.
01:37And all of you continue to be champions for people you have never met.
01:42Women whose lives could have been destroyed but were instead saved.
01:48Women who lived in fear and lacked the power to control their destinies but now are empowered to choose their
01:55own futures.
01:57Now, I'm not going to spend much time at all talking about Donald Trump because it can ruin a perfectly
02:05good meal for all of us.
02:08But I do need to get something off of my chest.
02:13There are too many women in this country who are living under the yoke of tyranny with a state government
02:19that is too close to being like Gilead in A Handmaid's Tale.
02:27Even people who claim to be pro-choice are afraid to say that abortion is health care.
02:36Everyone, say it with me, abortion is health care.
02:41No one's afraid in this room.
02:43And for God's sake, we've got to stop letting politicians dictate how we talk about abortion and start listening to
02:51women about what's best for their health care.
03:01Abortion is not a dirty word.
03:03It's a medical procedure.
03:05And when we make something shameful to say, we make it shameful to do.
03:10So let's also be honest about what we need to fight for when it comes to reproductive rights.
03:16I do not think that we should go back to a world where Roe v. Wade is the law of
03:22the land.
03:22And with all due respect, Roe was great while it lasted, but it ultimately failed us.
03:28It didn't hold up to what we needed the most.
03:31We spend too much time across the country trying to contort ourselves into the policy web anti-abortion politicians have
03:39created.
03:41Their web is a trap.
03:43It snags IVF and birth control and ectopic pregnancies and rape victims.
03:51It shuts down hospitals and it drives OBGYNs out of practice and puts doctors in jail.
04:00That Republican web is literally killing women.
04:04And let's be clear, there is nothing pro-life about a mother whose death could have been prevented.
04:16Every few years after Roe, the right wing would eat away at abortion rights.
04:22The Hyde Amendment, Webster, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Dobbs.
04:30Now, state legislatures across the nation have passed draconian abortion bans.
04:36Women are sneaking across state lines just to get routine medical care.
04:41People are dying on hospital tables because they've made it a felony for doctors to treat their patients.
04:49It's barbaric, something out of the medieval era.
04:53And it's beyond belief that we're dealing with this still in 2026.
04:59So here's what I propose to all of you.
05:01In 26 days, we need to elect a pro-choice majority in Congress and pass a federal law
05:07that guarantees the right to an abortion.
05:20Donald Trump will veto it, but we should pass it anyway.
05:26People across the nation need to know that when a pro-choice president is elected in 2028,
05:32the Congress will pass it again and we will finally get justice for women across this country.
05:43The reason that Illinois is a solidly pro-choice state is because of the bold vision of personal PAC
05:51and the willingness of Illinois' abortion rights advocates and their champions in the legislature
05:57and governors to never compromise on this issue.
06:01It's why we have the Reproductive Health Act guaranteeing abortion rights here.
06:06It's why we have shield laws to protect privacy for patients and for doctors.
06:12It's why we require all public colleges in Illinois to offer contraception and abortion medication.
06:24And if I've learned anything from personal PAC, it's this.
06:30You can make progress even in the harshest conditions, as long as you're working with people who inspire you,
06:37who wake up every single day fighting harder than yesterday.
06:42Anything is possible.
06:44And that is why it is such an honor today to present this award to someone who has spent her
06:51life doing exactly that.
06:54When you think about the progress that we've made on abortion access in Illinois,
06:58it's impossible to tell that story without Marcy Love at the center of it.
07:10In 1975, three years before Marcy founded Personal PAC,
07:14Illinois had some of the strictest abortion laws in the entire nation.
07:19Not only was it a felony for doctors to perform abortions,
07:23Illinois also had a trigger law in place that would make abortion completely illegal if Roe were ever overturned.
07:31So you know what Marcy did?
07:33She got to work.
07:34She founded Personal PAC at her kitchen table and then built it into an institutional force.
07:40She got her friends, her family involved, and then she got a whole bunch of strangers involved.
07:47And then she got doctors.
07:49And she poured time and energy and money into electing people,
07:53defending abortion rights just as fiercely as she had been.
07:57She helped eliminate the state legislature's anti-abortion supermajority.
08:03She fought tooth and nail to repeal Illinois' trigger law.
08:07And she has been an invaluable partner to me in some of my proudest moments as governor,
08:14including enacting the Reproductive Health Act and repealing Illinois' archaic parental notification law.
08:28Today, for the women of our great state, and for those of 13 other states and the District of
08:35Columbia that used to have — that have today — sorry, not the District of Columbia,
08:40the 13 states that have total abortion bans.
08:43And a dozen more, by the way, with severe restrictions.
08:47Illinois is a safe haven for them to exercise their reproductive rights.
08:52It's no exaggeration to say that that just wouldn't be the case if not for Marcy Love.
08:59She is the definition of a visionary leader, a once-in-a-generation fighter.
09:05Thank you, Marcy.
09:10So, ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming to this stage the inimitable Marcy Love.
09:27Thank you, Marcy.
09:34Hey, everyone. It's JB.
09:36Of course, I hope you'll like and subscribe, but I have one thing to ask.
09:40Are you ready for the fight?
09:42Election Day is coming up, so please make sure that you're registered to vote
09:46and cast your ballot on or before Election Day, November 3rd.
09:51To make a plan to vote, head on over to IWillVote.com.
09:57IWillVote.com. Let's win this thing.
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