HB5245enr 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB5245 Enrolled LRB094 18311 DRJ 53622 b

AN ACT concerning health.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Department of Public Health Powers and Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is amended by adding Section 2310-342 as follows:

(20 ILCS 2310/2310-342 new)

Sec. 2310-342. Umbilical cord blood donations.

(a) Subject to appropriations for that purpose, the Department of Public Health shall, by January 1, 2007, prepare and distribute to health and maternal care providers written publications that include the following information:

(1) The medical processes involved in the collection of umbilical cord blood.

(2) The medical risks to a mother and her newborn child of umbilical cord blood collection.

(3) The current and potential future medical uses and benefits of umbilical cord blood collection to a mother, her newborn child, and her biological family.

(4) The current and potential future medical uses and benefits of umbilical cord blood collection to persons who are not biologically related to a mother or her newborn child.

(5) Any costs that may be incurred by a pregnant woman who chooses to make an umbilical cord blood donation.

(6) Options for ownership and future use of the donated material.

(7) The availability in Illinois of umbilical cord blood donations.

(b) In developing the publications required under subsection (a), the Department of Public Health shall consult with an organization of physicians licensed to practice medicine in all its branches and consumer groups. The Department shall update the publications every 2 years.

Section 10. The Hospital Licensing Act is amended by changing Section 6.21 as follows:

(210 ILCS 85/6.21)

Sec. 6.21. Umbilical cord blood donation.

(a) All licensed hospitals shall offer a pregnant patient the option to donate, to a publicly accessible certified cord blood bank, blood extracted from the umbilical cord following the delivery of a newborn child if the donation can be made at no expense to the patient or hospital for collection or storage.

(b) Nothing in this Section obligates a hospital to collect umbilical cord blood if, in the professional judgment of a physician licensed to practice medicine in all its branches or a nurse, the collection would threaten the health of the mother or child.

(c) Nothing in this Section imposes a requirement upon any hospital employee, physician, nurse, or hospital that is directly affiliated with a bona fide religious denomination that includes as an integral part of its beliefs and practices the tenet that blood transfer is contrary to the moral principles the denomination considers to be an essential part of its beliefs.

(d) Subject to appropriations for that purpose, the Department of Public Health shall make the maximization of umbilical cord blood donations a public health goal. All licensed hospitals and birthing centers shall cooperate with the Department of Public Health in implementing this goal of increasing donations of umbilical cord blood.

(Source: P.A. 93-143, eff. 1-1-04.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.