Sen. Celina Villanueva

Filed: 3/22/2023

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1909

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1909 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
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

 

 

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1information and practices, without any regard for a pregnant
2person's concerns or circumstances. These organizations pay
3for advertising, including online and on billboards and public
4transportation, that is intended to attract consumers to their
5organizations and away from medical providers that offer
6comprehensive reproductive care. The advertisements and
7information given by these organizations provide grossly
8inaccurate or misleading information overstating the risks
9associated with abortion, including conveying untrue claims
10that abortion causes cancer or infertility and concealing data
11that shows the risk of death associated with childbirth is
12approximately 14 times higher than the risk of death
13associated with an abortion. This misinformation is intended
14to cause undue delays and disruption to protected,
15time-sensitive, reproductive health care services, and the
16State has an interest in preventing health risks and
17associated costs caused and compounded by unnecessary delays
18in obtaining life-changing or life-saving reproductive care.
19Even when an organization offers free services, all of this
20activity has a commercial and economic impact on where, when,
21and how reproductive care is provided. The conduct of these
22organizations has become increasingly aggressive following the
23United States Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson
24Women's Health Organization, 142 S.Ct. 2228 (2022). The State
25has an interest to protect against deceptive, fraudulent, and
26misleading advertising and practices that interfere with an

 

 

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1individual's ability to make autonomous, informed, and
2evidence-based decisions about the individual's reproductive
3health and have timely access to quality reproductive health
4care that adheres to accepted standards of medical practice or
5care. The State also has an interest to protect against
6deceptive and unfair practices affecting trade and commerce,
7to ensure a free, open, and fair marketplace for all
8marketplace participants. At the same time, it is the public
9policy of the State to respect the right to hold and express
10deeply held beliefs about abortion so long as fraud,
11deception, and misleading practices are not employed to
12interfere with or prevent another from accessing comprehensive
13reproductive health care. It is not the intention of this Act
14to regulate, limit, or curtail the ability to counsel against
15abortion if an organization and its agents are otherwise
16operating in compliance with the law.
 
17    Section 5. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business
18Practices Act is amended by adding Section 2BBBB as follows:
 
19    (815 ILCS 505/2BBBB new)
20    Sec. 2BBBB. Deceptive practices related to limited
21services pregnancy centers.
22    (a) As used in this Section:
23    "Abortion" means the use of any instrument, medicine,
24drug, or any other substance or device to terminate the

 

 

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1pregnancy of an individual known to be pregnant with an
2intention other than to increase the probability of a live
3birth, to preserve the life or health of the child after live
4birth, or to remove a dead fetus, as defined in Section 1-10 of
5the Reproductive Health Act.
6    "Affiliates" has the meaning given to the term "hospital
7affiliate" as defined in subsection (b) of Section 10.8 of the
8Hospital Licensing Act.
9    "Emergency contraception" means one or more prescription
10drugs (i) used separately or in combination for the purpose of
11preventing pregnancy, (ii) administered to or
12self-administered by a patient within a medically recommended
13amount of time after sexual intercourse, and (iii) dispensed
14for such purpose in accordance with professional standards of
15practice.
16    "Limited services pregnancy center" means an organization
17or facility, including a mobile facility, that:
18        (1) does not directly provide abortions or provide or
19    prescribe emergency contraception, or provide referrals
20    for abortions or emergency contraception, and has no
21    affiliation with any organization or provider who provides
22    abortions or provides or prescribes emergency
23    contraception; and
24        (2) has a primary purpose to offer or provide
25    pregnancy-related services to an individual who is or has
26    reason to believe the individual may be pregnant, whether

 

 

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1    or not a fee is charged for such services.
2"Limited services pregnancy center" does not include:
3        (1) a health care professional licensed by the
4    Department of Financial and Professional Regulation;
5        (2) a hospital licensed under the Hospital Licensing
6    Act and its affiliates; or
7        (3) a hospital licensed under the University of
8    Illinois Hospital Act and its affiliates.
9"Limited services pregnancy center" includes an organization
10or facility that has employees, volunteers, or agents who are
11health care professionals licensed by the Department of
12Financial and Professional Regulation.
13    "Pregnancy-related services" means any medical service, or
14health counseling service, related to the prevention,
15preservation, or termination of pregnancy, including, but not
16limited to, contraception and contraceptive counseling,
17pregnancy testing, pregnancy diagnosis, pregnancy options
18counseling, limited obstetric ultrasound, obstetric
19ultrasound, obstetric sonogram, sexually transmitted
20infections testing, and prenatal care.
21    (b) A limited services pregnancy center shall not engage
22in unfair methods of competition or unfair or deceptive acts
23or practices, including the use or employment of any
24deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise, or
25misrepresentation, or the concealment, suppression, or
26omission of any material fact, with the intent that others

 

 

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1rely upon the concealment, suppression, or omission of such
2material fact:
3        (1) to interfere with or prevent an individual from
4    seeking to gain entry or access to a provider of abortion
5    or emergency contraception;
6        (2) to induce an individual to enter or access the
7    limited services pregnancy center;
8        (3) in advertising, soliciting, or otherwise offering
9    pregnancy-related services; or
10        (4) in conducting, providing, or performing
11    pregnancy-related services.
12    (c) A violation of this Section constitutes a violation of
13this Act.
 
14    Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
15severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
 
16    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
17becoming law.".