102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
HB5779

 

Introduced 11/16/2022, by Rep. Margaret Croke

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
775 ILCS 55/1-5
775 ILCS 55/1-10
775 ILCS 55/1-15
775 ILCS 55/1-20

    Amends the Reproductive Health Act. Specifies that every individual has certain fundamental rights with respect to the use of assisted reproductive technology. Prohibits the State from taking certain actions that would restrict or interfere with those rights. Defines "assisted reproductive technology". Makes conforming changes.


LRB102 28446 LNS 40318 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB5779LRB102 28446 LNS 40318 b

1    AN ACT concerning human rights.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Reproductive Health Act is amended by
5changing Sections 1-5, 1-10, 1-15, and 1-20 as follows:
 
6    (775 ILCS 55/1-5)
7    Sec. 1-5. Scope. This Act sets forth the fundamental
8rights of individuals to make autonomous decisions about one's
9own reproductive health, including the fundamental right to
10use or refuse reproductive health care. This includes the
11fundamental right of an individual to use or refuse
12contraception or sterilization, and to make autonomous
13decisions about how to exercise that right; and the
14fundamental right of an individual who becomes pregnant to
15continue the pregnancy and give birth to a child, or to have an
16abortion, and to make autonomous decisions about how to
17exercise that right. This Act restricts the ability of the
18State to deny, interfere with, or discriminate against these
19fundamental rights.
20    The purposes of this Act are:
21        (1) To establish laws and policies that protect
22    individual decision-making in the area of reproductive
23    health and that support access to the full scope of

 

 

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1    quality reproductive health care for all in our State; and
2        (2) To permit regulation of reproductive health care,
3    including contraception, abortion, assisted reproductive
4    technology, and maternity care, only to the extent that
5    such regulation is narrowly tailored to protect a
6    compelling State interest, which for the purposes of this
7    Act means: consistent with accepted standards of clinical
8    practice, evidence based, and narrowly tailored for the
9    limited purpose of protecting the health of people seeking
10    such care and in the manner that least restricts a
11    person's autonomous decision-making.
12(Source: P.A. 101-13, eff. 6-12-19.)
 
13    (775 ILCS 55/1-10)
14    Sec. 1-10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
15    "Abortion" means the use of any instrument, medicine,
16drug, or any other substance or device to terminate the
17pregnancy of an individual known to be pregnant with an
18intention other than to increase the probability of a live
19birth, to preserve the life or health of the child after live
20birth, or to remove a dead fetus.
21    "Advanced practice registered nurse" has the same meaning
22as it does in Section 50-10 of the Nurse Practice Act.
23    "Assisted reproductive technology" means clinical
24fertility treatments and laboratory procedures that involve
25the handling of human oocytes, sperm, or embryos for the

 

 

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1purpose of establishing a pregnancy. "Assisted reproductive
2technology" includes, but is not limited to, in vitro
3fertilization, gamete intrafallopian transfer, zygote
4intrafallopian transfer, embryo biopsy, preimplantation
5genetic diagnosis, embryo cryopreservation, oocyte or embryo
6donation, and gestational surrogacy. "Assisted reproductive
7technology" does not include artificial insemination.
8    "Department" means the Illinois Department of Public
9Health.
10    "Fetal viability" means that, in the professional judgment
11of the attending health care professional, based on the
12particular facts of the case, there is a significant
13likelihood of a fetus' sustained survival outside the uterus
14without the application of extraordinary medical measures.
15    "Health care professional" means a person who is licensed
16as a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or
17physician assistant.
18    "Health of the patient" means all factors that are
19relevant to the patient's health and well-being, including,
20but not limited to, physical, emotional, psychological, and
21familial health and age.
22    "Maternity care" means the health care provided in
23relation to pregnancy, labor and childbirth, and the
24postpartum period, and includes prenatal care, care during
25labor and birthing, and postpartum care extending through
26one-year postpartum. Maternity care shall, seek to optimize

 

 

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1positive outcomes for the patient, and be provided on the
2basis of the physical and psychosocial needs of the patient.
3Notwithstanding any of the above, all care shall be subject to
4the informed and voluntary consent of the patient, or the
5patient's legal proxy, when the patient is unable to give
6consent.
7    "Physician" means any person licensed to practice medicine
8in all its branches under the Medical Practice Act of 1987.
9    "Physician assistant" has the same meaning as it does in
10Section 4 of the Physician Assistant Practice Act of 1987.
11    "Pregnancy" means the human reproductive process,
12beginning with the implantation of an embryo.
13    "Prevailing party" has the same meaning as in the Illinois
14Civil Rights Act of 2003.
15    "Reproductive health care" means health care offered,
16arranged, or furnished for the purpose of preventing
17pregnancy, terminating a pregnancy, managing pregnancy loss,
18establishing a pregnancy, or improving maternal health and
19birth outcomes. Reproductive health care includes, but is not
20limited to: contraception; sterilization; preconception care;
21assisted reproductive technology; maternity care; abortion
22care; and counseling regarding reproductive health care.
23    "State" includes any branch, department, agency,
24instrumentality, and official or other person acting under
25color of law of this State or a political subdivision of the
26State, including any unit of local government (including a

 

 

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1home rule unit), school district, instrumentality, or public
2subdivision.
3(Source: P.A. 101-13, eff. 6-12-19.)
 
4    (775 ILCS 55/1-15)
5    Sec. 1-15. Fundamental reproductive health rights.
6    (a) Every individual has a fundamental right to make
7autonomous decisions about the individual's own reproductive
8health, including the fundamental right to use or refuse
9reproductive health care.
10    (b) Every individual who becomes pregnant has a
11fundamental right to continue the pregnancy and give birth or
12to have an abortion, and to make autonomous decisions about
13how to exercise that right.
14    (c) A fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus does not have
15independent rights under the laws of this State.
16    (d) Every individual has a fundamental right to make
17autonomous decisions regarding the individual's use of
18assisted reproductive technology, and the individuals who use
19assisted reproductive technology have a fundamental right to
20make autonomous decisions regarding the human oocytes, sperm,
21and embryos used or created by those individuals during their
22use of that technology.
23(Source: P.A. 101-13, eff. 6-12-19.)
 
24    (775 ILCS 55/1-20)

 

 

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1    Sec. 1-20. Prohibited State actions; causes of action.
2    (a) The State shall not:
3        (1) deny, restrict, interfere with, or discriminate
4    against an individual's exercise of the fundamental rights
5    set forth in this Act, including individuals under State
6    custody, control, or supervision; or
7        (2) prosecute, punish, or otherwise deprive any
8    individual of the individual's rights for any act or
9    failure to act during the individual's own pregnancy, if
10    the predominant basis for such prosecution, punishment, or
11    deprivation of rights is the potential, actual, or
12    perceived impact on the pregnancy or its outcomes or on
13    the pregnant individual's own health; .
14        (3) restrict or interfere with an individual's right
15    to use assisted reproductive technology, including, but
16    not limited to, the individual's right to create, store,
17    or potentially destroy an embryo as part of that
18    individual's use of that technology;
19        (4) restrict or interfere with an individual's
20    decision to donate oocytes or sperm to an individual who
21    is undergoing treatment with assisted reproductive
22    technology;
23        (5) restrict or interfere with the quantity of oocytes
24    or sperm that may be retrieved or collected for an
25    individual as part of that individual's treatment with
26    assisted reproductive technology;

 

 

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1        (6) restrict or interfere with the number of embryos
2    that may be created for an individual as part of that
3    individual's treatment with assisted reproductive
4    technology;
5        (7) restrict or interfere with an individual's
6    decision to submit an embryo, oocyte, or sperm for
7    testing;
8        (8) restrict or interfere with an individual's
9    decision regarding the number of embryos to be transferred
10    as a part of that individual's treatment with assisted
11    reproductive technology; or
12        (9) restrict or interfere with an individual's
13    decision regarding the use of untransferred embryos
14    created as a part of the individual's treatment with
15    assisted reproductive technology, including, but not
16    limited to, any decision concerning the transfer of the
17    embryo to another individual, the donation of the embryo
18    to a laboratory for research, the destruction of the
19    embryo, or the cryopreservation of the embryo.
20    (b) Any party aggrieved by conduct or regulation in
21violation of this Act may bring a civil lawsuit, in a federal
22district court or State circuit court, against the offending
23unit of government. Any State claim brought in federal
24district court shall be a supplemental claim to a federal
25claim.
26    (c) Upon motion, a court shall award reasonable attorney's

 

 

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1fees and costs, including expert witness fees and other
2litigation expenses, to a plaintiff who is a prevailing party
3in any action brought pursuant to this Section. In awarding
4reasonable attorney's fees, the court shall consider the
5degree to which the relief obtained relates to the relief
6sought.
7(Source: P.A. 101-13, eff. 6-12-19.)