Why the rumored Pritzker constitutional agenda should surprise no one

Illinois Governor Jay Robert (JB) Pritzker has been involved for years in promoting abortion and the transgender agenda. Now, a pro-life group suggests he is preparing to push forward a constitutional amendment proposal to codify both abortion and transgender practices on minors into the state constitution.

But Pritzker isn't alone; some of his family members, also heirs to the Hyatt hotel empire, are heavily involved in funding and promoting pro-abortion, pro-transgender ideologies — which, as Live Action News has reported, are historically linked.

Given all that is known about Pritzker and his family, the rumored push for a pro-abortion, pro-transgender constitutional amendment should not be surprising.

Key Takeaways:

• A pro-life group says Illinois Governor JB Pritzker is preparing to push forward a constitutional amendment proposal to make abortion and transgender "care" constitutional rights in the state — even for minors.

• Pritzker and his family are linked to multiple pro-abortion, pro-transgender organizations.

• Under Pritzker as governor, Illinois abortions have skyrocketed.

The Details:

Since Pritzker assumed office as governor in 2019, overall abortions reported in Illinois have risen nearly 70% and over 400 minors have undergone life-altering sex-rejecting procedures or “services” in the state.  

Illinois Right to Life filed a formal complaint with the Public Access Counselor in the state after the alleged failure of the governor's office to comply with the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the documents the group received in response confirmed their suspicions — Pritzker's office is working toward enshrining abortion as a state constitutional "right" along with “gender-affirming care” — including “sex change surgeries for minors without parental consent.” 

The Backstory:

Prior to becoming governor, JB Pritzker heavily supported pro-abortion and 'gender-affirming' (sex-rejecting) organizations and politicians, including Hillary Clinton, President Barack Obama, the Clinton Foundation, the Center for American Progress, and the New America Foundation. 

Since becoming governor, Pritzker has broadly promoted pro-abortion and pro-transgender policies, even for minors. 

Timeline

2019

Signing of the “Reproductive Health Act” (RHA)

• Stripped away the preborn child’s right to life, allowed for infanticide, removed conscience protection laws for healthcare workers, and repealed the previous ban on partial-birth abortion.

• Included IVF as a "fundamental reproductive health right,” and denied the humanity of the embryo, stating, “A fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus does not have independent rights under the laws of this State.” 

2021

Repeal of Parental Notification & Mandating Explicit “Sex-Ed”; signed law expanding definition of “infertility”. 

• Signed HB 370 into law removing parental notification for minors seeking abortion. 

• Signed the “REACH” Act mandating "sex-ed" aligned with National Sex Education Standards, which encourages sexually explicit content.

• Signed HB 3709 which redefined infertility to include same-sex couples & single individuals, mandating insurance coverage to align with RESOLVE.

2022

Announcement of taxpayer-funding of abortions for imprisoned women.

• Provided "free abortions" for women in prison, funded by taxpayers.

2023

Signing of the “Expansion & Protection Act” & Targeting of Pregnancy Resource Centers (PRCs). 

• Omnibus bill that licensed out-of-state abortionists.

• Allowed nurse practitioners and physician assistants to perform Dilation & Curettage (D&C) aspiration abortions.

• Provided a “legal shield” (aka “Shield Law”) for abortionists and "gender-affirming care" providers.

• Targeted PRCs by allowing the state attorney general to target them for "deceptive action."

• Included IVF “shield” protections, including from the destruction of or discarding of unused embryos. 

2024

Signing of 3 additional anti-life bills, including further expansion of RHA. 

• Included the “Birth Equity Act” which mandated insurance coverage of abortions and “gender-affirming care” with no out-of-pocket costs.

• Expansion of RHA required insurance companies to cover the cost of IVF. 

2025

Requiring abortion pills and contraception on college state campuses; allowed any future FDA restrictions on abortion pills to be ignored; signed assisted suicide bill into law.

• Required abortion pills and contraception on college campuses.

• Mandated ignoring future FDA restrictions on abortion pills. 

• Signed assisted suicide bill.

The Context:

The promulgation and support of pro-abortion, pro-transgender ideologies by Gov. Pritzker and certain family members are vast.

Jennifer Pritzker, born James Pritzker, portrays himself as a woman and is a first cousin to JB Pritzker. This cousin funds various abortion-promoting and biology-denying groups such as Planned Parenthood, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, and the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH) through the Tawani Foundation (the non-profit grantmaking arm of Tawani Enterprises). 

A retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, James reportedly questioned his support of President Trump in 2017 after Trump took to social media to express intentions to bar people in denial of their biological sex from entering into the armed services. The Department of Defense defended the ban, stating, “the medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms with, gender dysphoria are incompatible with the high mental and physical standards necessary for military service.” Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the ban to continue.  

In 2019, James/Jennifer solidified his dissension from financially supporting Republicans, stating, “When the GOP asks me to deliver six- or seven-figure contributions for the 2020 elections, my first response will be: Why should I contribute to my own destruction?” Instead, as the so-called first openly transgender billionaire, he vowed to “refocus” his support into initiatives aligned with his view of reality — and that’s a promise he continues to keep.

Recent Tawani Foundation grant recipients include: 

• Planned Parenthood Federation of America

• Planned Parenthood of Illinois 

• Indiana University Foundation (which helps to fund the Kinsey Institute) 

• The Kinsey Institute 

• Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago 

• Human Rights Campaign Foundation

• WPATH

Where the family's support and funding goes

Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

The Pritzker Family has provided substantial financial support to the Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, which has provided "transgender services" to over 2,000 children, including body-altering surgeries, puberty blockers, and hormones. According to Stop the Harm, from 2019-2023, 39 minors underwent these surgeries at Lurie Children’s. The Hospital’s “gender clinic” was scrutinized after using a sexualized 13-year-old in a promotional video, and after its partnership with local Chicago school districts to promote “BDSM,” “kink,” and “‘trans-friendly’ sex toys for children.”  

The Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago also maintains a Fertility & Hormone Preservation & Restoration Program (FHPR). Through the Gender & Sex Development Program, the FHPR program was presented to 105 adolescents between July 2013 and July 2016 who were undergoing potentially sterilizing services under the guise of “transgender care,” of which, five underwent fertility preservation efforts (sperm cryopreservation/egg retrieval and cryopreservation).    

On January 15, Health and Human Services General Counsel Mike Stuart named the Lurie Children’s Hospital as one of several under investigation for allegedly “failing to protect our children from sex-rejecting procedures — procedures that cause permanent terrible harm.” Shortly after, the Hospital announced it would no longer “... initiate gender-affirming medications for patients under age 18 who have not previously been treated with these therapies by our team.”    

University of Illinois System

Gov. Pritzker is also a trustee member of the University of Illinois System, which includes the University of Illinois Hospital (UI Health). Stop the Harm reported that out of the hospital’s 69 minor “sex change patients,” 68 underwent surgeries, allegedly following the scrutinized World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s (WPATH) Standards of Care.

According to UI Health’s website, these surgeries for minors have now been suspended for individuals under age 19.    

Duke University

Shortly after JB Pritzker was named a trustee member of Duke in 2017, the University announced the creation of its Adult Gender Medicine Clinic.

According to the Carolina Journal, the University also rapidly expanded into its Child and Adolescent Gender Care Clinic during that time. Stop the Harm database reports that from 2019-2023, Duke University Hospital had 37 minor “sex change patients” including three minors who underwent medically unnecessary body-altering surgeries. State legislation passed in 2023 limited sex-denying services for minors but allowed for the continuation of “services” for minor patients who were “already under care at the time of the ban.” 

Despite growing pressure by the Trump administration to cut funding, Duke Health recently vowed to continue its practices on minors allowed by state law.  

Watchdog group Better Government Association previously reported that Duke University has received $2.5 million from Pritzker, but reported that “the true amount of his giving to Duke is unknown because there are many funds that the family has chosen not to make public.” 

Aligning with Pritzker's anti-life cause, Duke University also provides multiple levels of support for the abortion industry. The University hosts the “Reproductive Health Care Post-Roe” project, used as a tool for the abortion industry and its anti-life supporters. The Duke University Family Planning Clinic commits abortions. Duke Law and the research group Abortion Care Today provide analysis and publications to support abortion, while the University’s participation in the Ryan Residency Training Program through its Complex Family Planning Fellowship Program trains doctors how to kill preborn children.    

Think Big America

Live Action News previously reported on the founding of Think Big America, a 501(c)(4) created by Gov. Pritzker to help promote “state constitutional amendments in support of abortion” — part of the abortion allies' and the abortion industry’s post-Roe strategy. 

Prairie State Access Fund 

Further expanding upon the promise to deliver access to abortion, earlier this year, Gov. Pritzker announced the launch of the Prairie State Access Fund in partnership with the Michael Reese Health Trust. Promising $5 million in private funding, the Fund was established to cover alleged federal funding declines used to pay for abortion and sex-denying services for minors. In response, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois Robert Gilligan stated, “Most states, many places, entice people to come to their states for: various cultural activities, the weather, many other things. And here we are, trying to provide abortion-related services, so people can end the life of their unborn child. It’s so macabre.”   

The Big Picture:

The Death Toll

Since Pritzker assumed his gubernatorial role (from 2019 to 2023), 273,157 abortions were recorded by the Illinois Department of Health. 

Adding 2024 estimates reported by Guttmacher of abortions reported in Illinois (92,730), that number jumps up to 365,887.

The abortion death toll from 2019 to today is greater than the population of the #2 and #3 highest populated cities in Illinois combined (Aurora: 180,710; Naperville: 153,124). 

The data, further broken down, includes: 

• The number of overall abortions in the state has increased by nearly 70% (69.984%) since 2018 compared to 2023. [2018: 42,441; 2023: 72,143 (Guttmacher reports 2023 total abortion number as 92,730)] 

• The number of abortions performed on minors has increased over 76% (76.37%) from 2018 compared to 2023. (2018: 1261; 2023: 2224)

• Gestational age (by weeks) of the children in the womb at the time of abortion, from 2018 compared to 2023: (See what abortion procedure looks during these gestational timeframes here) 

• Up to 8 weeks - nearly 89% increase (88.63%) (2018: 20388; 2023: 38,462) 

• 8-11 weeks - nearly 56% increase (55.50%) (2018: 14,221; 2023: 22,113)

• 12-15 weeks - 36.7% increase (2018: 4,284; 2023: 5,858)

• 16+ weeks - nearly 74% increase (73.98%) (2018: 2,413; 2023: 4,198)

Abortion procedures (2018 compared to 2023): 

• Chemical abortion pill(s): 153.79% increase  

• Procedural: 19.33% increase 

Abortions (residents v. non-residents, 2018 compared to 2023):  

• Illinois Residents: 22% increase (22.13%) (2018: 36,713; 2023: 44,836) 

• Out-of-State Residents: 362% increase (2018: 5,668; 2023: 26,168) 

Source: Guttmacher

The Transgender Procedures

Under Pritzker’s gubernatorial administration, from 2019-2023 (according to database published by Stop The Harm): 

• 412 minors were subjected to sex-denying practices with possible life-long sterilizing impacts. 

• 211 minors underwent medically unnecessary, body-altering surgeries.

• 206 minors were provided medically unnecessary hormones and puberty blockers with over 1,500 prescriptions written.      

Why It Matters:

Live Action News has previously explained the history intertwining the abortion and the “transgender” industries.

Gov. Pritzker's efforts to move toward a constitutional amendment in Illinois to allow minors to undergo risky, life-altering, and harmful procedures (along with allowing them to kill preborn children without parental oversight) is yet another stark reminder of the ideological alliance between the pro-abortion and pro-transgender movements.