SB1909 EnrolledLRB103 30707 LNS 57182 b

1    AN ACT concerning civil law.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Legislative intent. The laws and public policy
5of this State have established the fundamental rights of
6individuals to make autonomous decisions about their own
7reproductive health, including the fundamental right to use or
8refuse reproductive health care. It is also the public policy
9of the State to ensure that patients receive timely access to
10information and medically appropriate care and that consumers
11are protected from deceptive and unfair practices. Despite
12these laws, vulnerable State residents and nonresidents
13seeking health care in this State have repeatedly been misled
14by organizations and their agents purporting to provide
15comprehensive reproductive health care services, but which, in
16reality, aim to dissuade pregnant persons from considering
17abortion care through deceptive, fraudulent, and misleading
18information and practices, without any regard for a pregnant
19person's concerns or circumstances. These organizations pay
20for advertising, including online and on billboards and public
21transportation, that is intended to attract consumers to their
22organizations and away from medical providers that offer
23comprehensive reproductive care. The advertisements and
24information given by these organizations provide grossly

 

 

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1inaccurate or misleading information overstating the risks
2associated with abortion, including conveying untrue claims
3that abortion causes cancer or infertility and concealing data
4that shows the risk of death associated with childbirth is
5approximately 14 times higher than the risk of death
6associated with an abortion. This misinformation is intended
7to cause undue delays and disruption to protected,
8time-sensitive, reproductive health care services, and the
9State has an interest in preventing health risks and
10associated costs caused and compounded by unnecessary delays
11in obtaining life-changing or life-saving reproductive care.
12Even when an organization offers free services, all of this
13activity has a commercial and economic impact on where, when,
14and how reproductive care is provided. The conduct of these
15organizations has become increasingly aggressive following the
16United States Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson
17Women's Health Organization, 142 S.Ct. 2228 (2022). The State
18has an interest to protect against deceptive, fraudulent, and
19misleading advertising and practices that interfere with an
20individual's ability to make autonomous, informed, and
21evidence-based decisions about the individual's reproductive
22health and have timely access to quality reproductive health
23care that adheres to accepted standards of medical practice or
24care. The State also has an interest to protect against
25deceptive and unfair practices affecting trade and commerce,
26to ensure a free, open, and fair marketplace for all

 

 

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1marketplace participants. At the same time, it is the public
2policy of the State to respect the right to hold and express
3deeply held beliefs about abortion so long as fraud,
4deception, and misleading practices are not employed to
5interfere with or prevent another from accessing comprehensive
6reproductive health care. It is not the intention of this Act
7to regulate, limit, or curtail the ability to counsel against
8abortion if an organization and its agents are otherwise
9operating in compliance with the law.
 
10    Section 5. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business
11Practices Act is amended by adding Section 2BBBB as follows:
 
12    (815 ILCS 505/2BBBB new)
13    Sec. 2BBBB. Deceptive practices related to limited
14services pregnancy centers.
15    (a) As used in this Section:
16    "Abortion" means the use of any instrument, medicine,
17drug, or any other substance or device to terminate the
18pregnancy of an individual known to be pregnant with an
19intention other than to increase the probability of a live
20birth, to preserve the life or health of the child after live
21birth, or to remove a dead fetus, as defined in Section 1-10 of
22the Reproductive Health Act.
23    "Affiliates" has the meaning given to the term "hospital
24affiliate" as defined in subsection (b) of Section 10.8 of the

 

 

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1Hospital Licensing Act.
2    "Emergency contraception" means one or more prescription
3drugs (i) used separately or in combination for the purpose of
4preventing pregnancy, (ii) administered to or
5self-administered by a patient within a medically recommended
6amount of time after sexual intercourse, and (iii) dispensed
7for such purpose in accordance with professional standards of
8practice.
9    "Limited services pregnancy center" means an organization
10or 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
3or facility that has employees, volunteers, or agents who are
4health care professionals licensed by the Department of
5Financial and Professional Regulation.
6    "Pregnancy-related services" means any medical service, or
7health counseling service, related to the prevention,
8preservation, or termination of pregnancy, including, but not
9limited to, contraception and contraceptive counseling,
10pregnancy testing, pregnancy diagnosis, pregnancy options
11counseling, limited obstetric ultrasound, obstetric
12ultrasound, obstetric sonogram, sexually transmitted
13infections testing, and prenatal care.
14    (b) A limited services pregnancy center shall not engage
15in unfair methods of competition or unfair or deceptive acts
16or practices, including the use or employment of any
17deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise, or
18misrepresentation, or the concealment, suppression, or
19omission of any material fact, with the intent that others
20rely upon the concealment, suppression, or omission of such
21material 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
6this Act.
 
7    Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
8severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
 
9    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
10becoming law.