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| Public Act 099-0690
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| SB1564 Enrolled | LRB099 05684 HEP 25727 b |
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AN ACT concerning civil law.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Health Care Right of Conscience Act is |
amended by changing Sections 2, 3, 6, and 9 and by adding |
Sections 6.1 and 6.2 as follows:
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(745 ILCS 70/2) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 5302)
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Sec. 2. Findings and policy. The General Assembly finds and |
declares that
people and organizations hold different beliefs |
about whether certain
health care services are morally |
acceptable. It is the public policy of the
State of Illinois to
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respect
and protect the right of conscience of all persons who |
refuse to obtain,
receive or accept, or who are engaged in, the |
delivery of, arrangement for,
or payment of health care
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services and medical care whether acting individually, |
corporately, or
in association with other persons; and to |
prohibit all forms of
discrimination, disqualification, |
coercion, disability or imposition of
liability upon such |
persons or entities by reason of their refusing to
act contrary |
to their conscience or conscientious convictions in
providing, |
paying for, or refusing to obtain, receive, accept, deliver, |
pay for, or
arrange
for the payment of health care services and
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medical care. It is also the public policy of the State of |
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Illinois to ensure that patients receive timely access to |
information and medically appropriate care.
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(Source: P.A. 90-246, eff. 1-1-98.)
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(745 ILCS 70/3) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 5303)
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Sec. 3. Definitions. As used in this Act, unless the |
context clearly
otherwise
requires:
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(a) "Health care" means any phase of patient care, |
including
but
not limited to, testing; diagnosis; prognosis; |
ancillary research;
instructions; family planning, |
counselling, referrals, or any other
advice in connection with |
the use or procurement of contraceptives and
sterilization or |
abortion procedures; medication; or surgery or other
care or |
treatment rendered by a physician or physicians, nurses,
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paraprofessionals or health care facility, intended for the
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physical,
emotional, and mental well-being of persons;
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(b) "Physician" means any person who is licensed by the |
State of Illinois under the
Medical Practice Act of 1987;
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(c) "Health care personnel" means any nurse, nurses'
aide, |
medical school
student, professional, paraprofessional or any |
other person who
furnishes, or assists in the furnishing of, |
health care
services;
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(d) "Health care facility" means any public or private
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hospital, clinic,
center, medical school, medical training |
institution, laboratory or
diagnostic
facility, physician's |
office, infirmary, dispensary, ambulatory surgical
treatment |
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center or other institution or location wherein health care
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services are provided to any person, including physician |
organizations and
associations, networks, joint ventures, and |
all
other combinations of those organizations;
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(e) "Conscience" means a sincerely held set of moral |
convictions
arising from belief in and relation to God, or |
which, though not so
derived, arises from a place in the life |
of its possessor
parallel to
that filled by God among adherents |
to religious faiths; and
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(f) "Health care payer" means a health maintenance |
organization, insurance
company, management services |
organization, or any other entity that pays for
or arranges for |
the payment of any health care or medical care service,
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procedure, or product; and .
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(g) "Undue delay" means unreasonable delay that causes |
impairment of the patient's health. |
The above definitions include not only the traditional |
combinations and forms
of these persons and organizations but |
also all new and emerging forms and
combinations of these |
persons and organizations.
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(Source: P.A. 90-246, eff. 1-1-98.)
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(745 ILCS 70/6) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 5306)
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Sec. 6. Duty of physicians and other health care personnel. |
Nothing in
this Act shall relieve a physician from any duty,
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which may exist under any laws concerning current standards, of |
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normal
medical practice or care practices and procedures, to |
inform his or her patient of the
patient's condition, |
prognosis, legal treatment options, and risks and benefits of |
treatment options, provided, however, that such
physician |
shall be under no duty to perform, assist, counsel, suggest,
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recommend, refer or participate in any way in any form of |
medical
practice or health care service that is contrary to his |
or
her conscience.
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Nothing in this Act shall be construed so as to relieve a |
physician
or other health care personnel from obligations under |
the law
of providing emergency medical care.
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(Source: P.A. 90-246, eff. 1-1-98.)
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(745 ILCS 70/6.1 new) |
Sec. 6.1. Access to care and information protocols. All |
health care facilities shall adopt written access to care and |
information protocols that are designed to ensure that |
conscience-based objections do not cause impairment of |
patients' health and that explain how conscience-based |
objections will be addressed in a timely manner to facilitate |
patient health care services. The protections of Sections 4, 5, |
7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 of this Act only apply if conscience-based |
refusals occur in accordance with these protocols. These |
protocols must, at a minimum, address the following: |
(1) The health care facility, physician, or health care |
personnel shall inform a patient of the patient's |
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condition, prognosis, legal treatment options, and risks |
and benefits of the treatment options in a timely manner, |
consistent with current standards of medical practice or |
care. |
(2) When a health care facility, physician, or health |
care personnel is unable to permit, perform, or participate |
in a health care service that is a diagnostic or treatment |
option requested by a patient because the health care |
service is contrary to the conscience of the health care |
facility, physician, or health care personnel, then the |
patient shall either be provided the requested health care |
service by others in the facility or be notified that the |
health care will not be provided and be referred, |
transferred, or given information in accordance with |
paragraph (3). |
(3) If requested by the patient or the legal |
representative of the patient, the health care facility, |
physician, or health care personnel shall: (i) refer the |
patient to, or (ii) transfer the patient to, or (iii) |
provide in writing information to the patient about other |
health care providers who they reasonably believe may offer |
the health care service the health care facility, |
physician, or health personnel refuses to permit, perform, |
or participate in because of a conscience-based objection. |
(4) If requested by the patient or the legal |
representative of the patient, the health care facility, |
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physician, or health care personnel shall provide copies of |
medical records to the patient or to another health care |
professional or health care facility designated by the |
patient in accordance with Illinois law, without undue |
delay.
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(745 ILCS 70/6.2 new) |
Sec. 6.2. Permissible acts related to access to care and |
information protocols. Nothing in this Act shall be construed |
to prevent a health care facility from requiring that |
physicians or health care personnel working in the facility |
comply with access to care and information protocols that |
comply with the provisions of this Act.
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(745 ILCS 70/9) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 5309)
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Sec. 9. Liability. No person, association, or corporation, |
which owns,
operates, supervises, or manages a health care |
facility shall
be civilly or
criminally liable to any person, |
estate, or public or private entity by
reason of refusal of the |
health care facility to permit or
provide any
particular form |
of health care service which violates the
facility's conscience |
as documented in its ethical guidelines,
mission statement, |
constitution, bylaws, articles of incorporation,
regulations, |
or other governing documents.
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Nothing in this Act act shall be construed so as to relieve |
a physician,
or other health care personnel, or a health care |
