Full Text of SB1909 103rd General Assembly
SB1909enr 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning civil law.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 1. Legislative intent. The laws and public policy | 5 | | of this State have established the fundamental rights of | 6 | | individuals to make autonomous decisions about their own | 7 | | reproductive health, including the fundamental right to use or | 8 | | refuse reproductive health care. It is also the public policy | 9 | | of the State to ensure that patients receive timely access to | 10 | | information and medically appropriate care and that consumers | 11 | | are protected from deceptive and unfair practices. Despite | 12 | | these laws, vulnerable State residents and nonresidents | 13 | | seeking health care in this State have repeatedly been misled | 14 | | by organizations and their agents purporting to provide | 15 | | comprehensive reproductive health care services, but which, in | 16 | | reality, aim to dissuade pregnant persons from considering | 17 | | abortion care through deceptive, fraudulent, and misleading | 18 | | information and practices, without any regard for a pregnant | 19 | | person's concerns or circumstances. These organizations pay | 20 | | for advertising, including online and on billboards and public | 21 | | transportation, that is intended to attract consumers to their | 22 | | organizations and away from medical providers that offer | 23 | | comprehensive reproductive care. The advertisements and | 24 | | information given by these organizations provide grossly |
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| 1 | | inaccurate or misleading information overstating the risks | 2 | | associated with abortion, including conveying untrue claims | 3 | | that abortion causes cancer or infertility and concealing data | 4 | | that shows the risk of death associated with childbirth is | 5 | | approximately 14 times higher than the risk of death | 6 | | associated with an abortion. This misinformation is intended | 7 | | to cause undue delays and disruption to protected, | 8 | | time-sensitive, reproductive health care services, and the | 9 | | State has an interest in preventing health risks and | 10 | | associated costs caused and compounded by unnecessary delays | 11 | | in obtaining life-changing or life-saving reproductive care. | 12 | | Even when an organization offers free services, all of this | 13 | | activity has a commercial and economic impact on where, when, | 14 | | and how reproductive care is provided. The conduct of these | 15 | | organizations has become increasingly aggressive following the | 16 | | United States Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson | 17 | | Women's Health Organization, 142 S.Ct. 2228 (2022). The State | 18 | | has an interest to protect against deceptive, fraudulent, and | 19 | | misleading advertising and practices that interfere with an | 20 | | individual's ability to make autonomous, informed, and | 21 | | evidence-based decisions about the individual's reproductive | 22 | | health and have timely access to quality reproductive health | 23 | | care that adheres to accepted standards of medical practice or | 24 | | care. The State also has an interest to protect against | 25 | | deceptive and unfair practices affecting trade and commerce, | 26 | | to ensure a free, open, and fair marketplace for all |
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| 1 | | marketplace participants. At the same time, it is the public | 2 | | policy of the State to respect the right to hold and express | 3 | | deeply held beliefs about abortion so long as fraud, | 4 | | deception, and misleading practices are not employed to | 5 | | interfere with or prevent another from accessing comprehensive | 6 | | reproductive health care. It is not the intention of this Act | 7 | | to regulate, limit, or curtail the ability to counsel against | 8 | | abortion if an organization and its agents are otherwise | 9 | | operating in compliance with the law. | 10 | | Section 5. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business | 11 | | Practices Act is amended by adding Section 2BBBB as follows: | 12 | | (815 ILCS 505/2BBBB new) | 13 | | Sec. 2BBBB. Deceptive practices related to limited | 14 | | services pregnancy centers. | 15 | | (a) As used in this Section: | 16 | | "Abortion" means the use of any instrument, medicine, | 17 | | drug, or any other substance or device to terminate the | 18 | | pregnancy of an individual known to be pregnant with an | 19 | | intention other than to increase the probability of a live | 20 | | birth, to preserve the life or health of the child after live | 21 | | birth, or to remove a dead fetus, as defined in Section 1-10 of | 22 | | the Reproductive Health Act. | 23 | | "Affiliates" has the meaning given to the term "hospital | 24 | | affiliate" as defined in subsection (b) of Section 10.8 of the |
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| 1 | | Hospital Licensing Act. | 2 | | "Emergency contraception" means one or more prescription | 3 | | drugs (i) used separately or in combination for the purpose of | 4 | | preventing pregnancy, (ii) administered to or | 5 | | self-administered by a patient within a medically recommended | 6 | | amount of time after sexual intercourse, and (iii) dispensed | 7 | | for such purpose in accordance with professional standards of | 8 | | practice. | 9 | | "Limited services pregnancy center" means an organization | 10 | | or facility, including a mobile facility, that: | 11 | | (1) does not directly provide abortions or provide or | 12 | | prescribe emergency contraception, or provide referrals | 13 | | for abortions or emergency contraception, and has no | 14 | | affiliation with any organization or provider who provides | 15 | | abortions or provides or prescribes emergency | 16 | | contraception; and | 17 | | (2) has a primary purpose to offer or provide | 18 | | pregnancy-related services to an individual who is or has | 19 | | reason to believe the individual may be pregnant, whether | 20 | | or not a fee is charged for such services. | 21 | | "Limited services pregnancy center" does not include: | 22 | | (1) a health care professional licensed by the | 23 | | Department of Financial and Professional Regulation; | 24 | | (2) a hospital licensed under the Hospital Licensing | 25 | | Act and its affiliates; or | 26 | | (3) a hospital licensed under the University of |
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| 1 | | Illinois Hospital Act and its affiliates. | 2 | | "Limited services pregnancy center" includes an organization | 3 | | or facility that has employees, volunteers, or agents who are | 4 | | health care professionals licensed by the Department of | 5 | | Financial and Professional Regulation. | 6 | | "Pregnancy-related services" means any medical service, or | 7 | | health counseling service, related to the prevention, | 8 | | preservation, or termination of pregnancy, including, but not | 9 | | limited to, contraception and contraceptive counseling, | 10 | | pregnancy testing, pregnancy diagnosis, pregnancy options | 11 | | counseling, limited obstetric ultrasound, obstetric | 12 | | ultrasound, obstetric sonogram, sexually transmitted | 13 | | infections testing, and prenatal care. | 14 | | (b) A limited services pregnancy center shall not engage | 15 | | in unfair methods of competition or unfair or deceptive acts | 16 | | or practices, including the use or employment of any | 17 | | deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise, or | 18 | | misrepresentation, or the concealment, suppression, or | 19 | | omission of any material fact, with the intent that others | 20 | | rely upon the concealment, suppression, or omission of such | 21 | | material fact: | 22 | | (1) to interfere with or prevent an individual from | 23 | | seeking to gain entry or access to a provider of abortion | 24 | | or emergency contraception; | 25 | | (2) to induce an individual to enter or access the | 26 | | limited services pregnancy center; |
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| 1 | | (3) in advertising, soliciting, or otherwise offering | 2 | | pregnancy-related services; or | 3 | | (4) in conducting, providing, or performing | 4 | | pregnancy-related services. | 5 | | (c) A violation of this Section constitutes a violation of | 6 | | this Act. | 7 | | Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are | 8 | | severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
| 9 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 10 | | becoming law.
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