Public Act 93-0566
SB263 Enrolled LRB093 08244 DRJ 08457 b
AN ACT in relation to health.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Perinatal HIV Prevention Act.
Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:
"Health care professional" means a physician licensed to
practice medicine in all its branches, a physician assistant
who has been delegated the provision of health services by
his or her supervising physician, or an advanced practice
registered nurse who has a written collaborative agreement
with a collaborating physician that authorizes the provision
of health services.
"Health care facility" or "facility" means any hospital
or other institution that is licensed or otherwise authorized
to deliver health care services.
"Health care services" means any prenatal medical care or
labor or delivery services to a pregnant woman and her
newborn infant, including hospitalization.
Section 10. HIV counseling and offer of HIV testing
required.
(a) Every health care professional who provides health
care services to a pregnant woman shall provide the woman
with HIV counseling and offer HIV testing, unless she has
already received an HIV test during pregnancy. HIV testing
shall be provided with the woman's consent. A health care
professional shall provide the counseling and offer the
testing as early in the woman's pregnancy as possible. For
women at continued risk of exposure to HIV infection in the
judgment of the health care professional, a repeat test
should be offered late in pregnancy. The counseling and offer
of testing shall be documented in the woman's medical record.
(b) Every health care professional or facility that
cares for a pregnant woman during labor or delivery shall
provide the woman with HIV counseling and offer HIV testing.
HIV testing shall be provided with the woman's consent. No
counseling or offer of testing is required if already
provided during the woman's pregnancy. The counseling and
offer of testing shall be documented in the woman's medical
record. Any testing or test results shall be documented in
accordance with the AIDS Confidentiality Act.
(c) Every health care professional or facility caring
for a newborn infant shall, upon delivery or within 48 hours
after the infant's birth, provide counseling to the parent or
guardian of the infant and perform HIV testing, when the HIV
status of the infant's mother is unknown, if the parent or
guardian does not refuse. The health care professional or
facility shall document in the woman's medical record that
counseling and the offer of testing were given, and that no
written refusal was given.
(d) The counseling required under this Section must be
provided in accordance with the AIDS Confidentiality Act and
must include the following:
(1) The benefits of HIV testing for the pregnant
woman, including the prevention of transmission.
(2) The benefit of HIV testing for the newborn
infant, including interventions to prevent HIV
transmission.
(3) The side effects of interventions to prevent
HIV transmission.
(4) The statutory confidentiality provisions that
relate to HIV and acquired immune deficiency syndrome
("AIDS") testing.
(5) The voluntary nature of the testing, including
the opportunity to refuse testing of a newborn infant in
writing.
(e) All counseling and testing must be performed in
accordance with the standards set forth in the AIDS
Confidentiality Act, with the exception of the requirement of
consent for testing of newborn infants. Consent for testing
of a newborn infant shall be presumed when a health care
professional or health care facility seeks to perform a test
on a newborn infant whose mother's HIV status is not known,
provided that the counseling required under subsection (d)
has taken place and the newborn infant's parent or guardian
has not indicated in writing that he or she refuses to allow
the newborn infant to receive HIV testing.
(f) The Illinois Department of Public Health shall adopt
necessary rules to implement this Act.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.