Signed by Governor JB Pritzker

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that establishes rights for women in pregnancy and childbirth.

Highlights:

• Amends the Medical Patient Rights Act to ensure the following rights for women (Sec. 5):

• The right to receive health care before, during, and after pregnancy and childbirth;

• The right to choose a midwife or physician as her maternity care professional, and change her selection;

• The right to choose her birth setting;

• The right to receive information regarding her treatment, and to refuse any treatment to the extent medically possible;

• The right to information about breastfeeding;

• The right to receive information in her own language;

• The right to the confidentiality of, and access to, her medical records;

• The right to receive emotional and physical support during labor and birth;

• The right to give birth in the position of her choice, within medical standards;

• The right to hold her newborn unless necessary care must be provided;

• The right to decide collaboratively with caregivers when she and her baby will go home; and

• The right to explanation regarding her total medical bill.

• Requires that the Department of Public Health, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, and the Department of Human Services post information about these rights on their websites (Sec. 5).

• Requires that every health care provider, licensed day care center, Head Start, and community center post information about these rights at their location and on their websites (Sec. 5).

Full Bill Text