CHICAGO _ The young woman in a gray hoodie and backpack boarded a bus alone just after midnight, departing for an interstate trip to make the most pivotal choice of her 24 years.
A lightning storm raged outside her window, illuminating in flashes the gently rolling landscape of the Ozarks in southwest Missouri. Her family and most of her friends didn't know the sweatshirt covered a 12-week pregnancy she was planning to terminate, the reason for her travels some 260 miles north to Illinois that winter weeknight.
"I've seen what unplanned pregnancies do to people," said the woman, who requested anonymity to keep her recent abortion a secret from those closest to her. "I don't want to be put through that. I don't want to be forced into a marriage. I don't want to raise a child alone."
Illinois health data show that each year around 3,000 women come from out of state to have an abortion in Illinois, which has some of the least restrictive laws in the Midwest.
While the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade has guaranteed the right to an abortion since 1973, lawmakers and courts across the country continue to tussle over the boundaries of that reproductive freedom. That has created pockets of access in places like Illinois amid what has been termed the U.S. abortion desert of the South and Midwest.
Shrouded by privacy laws, data from the Illinois Department of Public Health reveal little about those who cross state lines to terminate pregnancies except the annual number. Four of these women, though, have shared the stories of their abortions with the Tribune, chronicling the legal obstacles that led them to Illinois as well as their fears and frustrations.
A young woman from Missouri, just starting to meet her own needs, felt it would be unfair to bring a child into the world.
An Indiana mother longed for a baby but terminated for medical reasons.
A Wisconsin mom, regretful and grieving for years after her abortion, recently began leading a recovery group at her church for others experiencing a similar loss.
A teen from Ohio came to Illinois seeking a judicial bypass so she could have an abortion without her parents learning of her pregnancy.
One Chicago clinic _ citing an uptick in patients from other Midwest states _ offers on its website a discounted rate at a hotel about a block away. Volunteers with a burgeoning nonprofit, Midwest Access Coalition, share their spare bedrooms, prepare meals and give rides to help women traveling to Chicago for abortion care.
Reproductive rights have risen to the forefront of national debate since the contentious fall presidential election. During the campaign, President Donald Trump once commented that Roe v. Wade could be reversed "automatically, in my opinion, because I am putting pro-life justices on the court," sending the matter back to the state level.
Many states, particularly those in the Midwest, fluctuate when it comes to abortion laws.
Locally, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner has threatened to veto a bill that would expand the availability of taxpayer-funded abortions, indicating Illinois isn't immune from challenges even as it remains a haven for access.
The Republican governor of Missouri last month called a special legislative session to focus on abortion, and a bill moving through the legislature includes various new regulations. Iowa's Republican governor in May signed legislation enacting a 72-hour waiting period prior to an abortion as well as a ban on the procedure after 20 weeks of gestation, except when a woman's physical health is at risk. Hours later, the Iowa state Supreme Court issued a temporary halt to the waiting period portion of the law.
Nationwide, recent moves to restrict reproductive rights have sparked a series of protests inspired by "The Handmaid's Tale," with activists in Missouri, Ohio, Texas and other states donning red cloaks and white bonnets in the image of characters from the 1985 dystopian novel and recent Hulu series.
To those who oppose abortion, these constraints are considered the last defense of the unborn.
"I don't think having few protections is something Illinois should celebrate," said Emily Troscinski, executive director of the nonprofit Illinois Right to Life. "It is embarrassing, because we are so out of line with the rest of the Midwest when it comes to protecting women and the unborn."
To those who support abortion rights, these measures are unnecessary burdens wielded inequitably by geography.
"It's unfortunate that in some states politicians have felt they can restrict access, and that means women need to go out of state," said Brigid Leahy, director of public policy for Planned Parenthood of Illinois. "Your rights shouldn't depend on your ZIP code or the state you live in."
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