HB2495 - Reproductive Health Act Summary

• Establishes fundamental right to make autonomous decisions about reproductive health, including use or refusal of contraception, sterilization, and abortion, with pregnancy beginning at embryo implantation.

• Declares fertilized eggs, embryos, and fetuses do not have independent rights under Illinois law, and prohibits state actions that deny, restrict, or interfere with reproductive rights including those in state custody.

• Requires health care professionals to report all abortions performed to the Department of Public Health using confidential forms that do not identify patients; reports exempt from Freedom of Information Act and destroyed within 2 years.

• Mandates insurance coverage for all FDA-approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and abortion care without cost-sharing, and allows advanced practice registered nurses to perform abortions without physician collaboration.

• Repeals prior abortion restrictions including the Illinois Abortion Law of 1975, Partial-birth Abortion Ban Act, and Abortion Performance Refusal Act; takes effect immediately upon becoming law.