Bill Text: IL HB4221 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Creates the Pregnancy Center Disclosure Act. Presents the findings of the General Assembly. Provides that the purpose of the Act is to protect the health, safety, and welfare of pregnant women. Provides that a limited services pregnancy facility shall disseminate to clients on-site, and in any print and digital advertising materials, notice stating that the facility is not licensed as a medical facility by Illinois and has no licensed medical provider who provides or directly supervises the provision of services. Contains other notice requirements. Provides that the Attorney General shall bring an action to impose civil penalties of $500 for a first offense and $5,000 for each subsequent offense against a limited services pregnancy facility that fails to comply with the requirements of the Act. Provides that a private party may bring a civil action for injunctive relief to enforce the Act. Contains requirements for notice of noncompliance. Defines "limited services pregnancy facility". Contains a severability provision. Contains other provisions.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-07-28 - Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Margaret Croke [HB4221 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-HB4221-Introduced.html

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102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2021 and 2022 HB4221 Introduced , by Rep. Barbara Hernandez SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
New Act
Creates the Pregnancy Center Disclosure Act. Presents the findings of the General Assembly. Provides that the purpose of the Act is to protect the health, safety, and welfare of pregnant women. Provides that a limited services pregnancy facility shall disseminate to clients on-site, and in any print and digital advertising materials, notice stating that the facility is not licensed as a medical facility by Illinois and has no licensed medical provider who provides or directly supervises the provision of services. Contains other notice requirements. Provides that the Attorney General shall bring an action to impose civil penalties of $500 for a first offense and $5,000 for each subsequent offense against a limited services pregnancy facility that fails to comply with the requirements of the Act. Provides that a private party may bring a civil action for injunctive relief to enforce the Act. Contains requirements for notice of noncompliance. Defines "limited services pregnancy facility". Contains a severability provision. Contains other provisions.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning health.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Pregnancy Center Disclosure Act.
Section 5. Findings; purpose.
(a) The General Assembly finds that:
(1) Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) are offices that
purport to offer women comprehensive and unbiased
reproductive health care information and services, but
instead they attempt to prevent women from obtaining
abortions.
(2) There are an estimated 2,500 Crisis Pregnancy
Centers across the United States, while there are only
about 840 licensed clinics that perform abortions. In many
states, CPCs far outnumber abortion clinics.
(3) Crisis Pregnancy Centers have a history of
targeting vulnerable women with misleading ads and
providing them with false and medically inaccurate
information about abortion, birth control, and a woman's
own health status.
(4) Crisis Pregnancy Centers rarely employ licensed
medical practitioners. Instead, unlicensed counselors or

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volunteers provide "services" to pregnant women, sometimes
even performing medical tests that they are unqualified to
provide.
(5) Women who seek health care or counseling during
pregnancy require and deserve accurate information about
these pregnancy-related facilities.
(b) The purpose of this Act is to protect the health,
safety, and welfare of pregnant women.
Section 10. Definition. In this Act, "limited services
pregnancy facility" means a facility that: (i) has a primary
purpose of providing pregnancy-related services; (ii) is not
licensed by the State and does not have a licensed medical
provider on staff or under contract who provides or directly
supervises the provision of all of the services; and (iii)
satisfies 2 or more of the following:
(1) The facility offers obstetric ultrasounds,
obstetric sonograms, or prenatal care to pregnant women.
(2) The facility offers pregnancy testing or pregnancy
diagnosis.
(3) The facility advertises or solicits patrons with
offers to provide prenatal sonography, pregnancy tests, or
pregnancy options counseling.
(4) The facility has staff or volunteers who collect
health information from clients.
(5) The facility has staff or volunteers who are not

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licensed nurses or physicians but who dress in clothing
that is typical of nurses or physicians.
Section 15. Requirements for a limited services pregnancy
facility.
(a) A limited services pregnancy facility shall
disseminate to clients on-site, and in any print and digital
advertising materials, including Internet websites, the
following notice:
"This facility is not licensed as a medical facility
by Illinois and has no licensed medical provider who
provides or directly supervises the provision of
services."
(b) In any county where more than 10% of the overall
population speaks a language other than English at home, as
measured by the U.S. Census, the notice distributed on-site
under subsection (a) shall also be provided in such other
language. Where advertising materials are in a language other
than English, the notice shall be provided in the same
language.
(c) The on-site notice required under subsection (a) shall
be a sign at least 11 inches by 17 inches, written in no less
than 80 point type, and shall be posted conspicuously at the
entrance of the limited services pregnancy facility and in at
least one additional area where clients wait to receive
services.

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(d) The notice required under subsection (a), as it
appears in advertising material, shall be clear and
conspicuous, meaning: (i) in larger point type than the
surrounding text; (ii) in contrasting type, font, or color to
the surrounding text of the same size; or (iii) set off from
the surrounding text of the same size by symbols or other marks
that call attention to the language of the notice.
Section 20. Enforcement.
(a) The Attorney General shall bring an action to impose
civil penalties against a limited services pregnancy facility
that fails to comply with the requirements of this Act. Such
penalties shall be $500 for a first offense and $5,000 for each
subsequent offense.
(b) Before bringing an action to impose civil penalties,
the Attorney General shall provide the limited services
pregnancy facility with reasonable notice of noncompliance
that informs the limited services pregnancy facility that it
is subject to a civil penalty if it does not correct the
violation within 30 days after the date the notice is sent, and
the Attorney General shall verify that the violation was not
corrected within 30 days before imposing the penalties.
(c) A private party may bring a civil action for
injunctive relief to enforce this Act. In such case, the
private party shall provide the limited services pregnancy
facility notice of noncompliance by certified mail at least 30

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days before filing suit. If the facility fails to correct the
violation by the time the civil action is filed and the
plaintiff prevails in the action, the plaintiff shall be
entitled to recover attorney's fees and costs.
Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.