Right of conscious act

Public Act 0690 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

 Public Act 099-0690  
SB1564 Enrolled
LRB099 05684 HEP 25727 b
  AN ACT concerning civil law.  Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:  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:  (745 ILCS 70/2) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 5302)  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 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 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 medical care. It is also the public policy of the State of  
Illinois to ensure that patients receive timely access to 
information and medically appropriate care. 
(Source: P.A. 90-246, eff. 1-1-98.) 
 
(745 ILCS 70/3) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 5303) 
 
Sec. 3. Definitions. As used in this Act, unless the 
context clearly otherwise requires: 
 
(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, 
paraprofessionals or health care facility, intended for the 
physical, emotional, and mental well-being of persons; 
 
(b) "Physician" means any person who is licensed by the 
State of Illinois under the Medical Practice Act of 1987; 
 
(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; 
 
(d) "Health care facility" means any public or private 
hospital, clinic, center, medical school, medical training 
institution, laboratory or diagnostic facility, physician's 
office, infirmary, dispensary, ambulatory surgical treatment 
 
center or other institution or location wherein health care 
services are provided to any person, including physician 
organizations and associations, networks, joint ventures, and 
all other combinations of those organizations; 
 
(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 
 
(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, 
procedure, or product; and . 
 
(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. 
(Source: P.A. 90-246, eff. 1-1-98.) 
 
(745 ILCS 70/6) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 5306) 
 
Sec. 6. Duty of physicians and other health care personnel. 
Nothing in this Act shall relieve a physician from any duty, 
which may exist under any laws concerning current standards, of 
 
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, 
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. 
 
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. 
(Source: P.A. 90-246, eff. 1-1-98.) 
 
(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 
 
 
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, 
 
 
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. 
 
(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. 
 
(745 ILCS 70/9) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 5309) 
 
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. 
 
Nothing in this Act act shall be construed so as to relieve 
a physician, or other health care personnel, or a health care 
 
facility from obligations under the law of providing emergency 
medical care. 
(Source: P.A. 90-246, eff. 1-1-98.)