SB2706 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB095 05746 KBJ 25836 b

95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008
SB2706

Introduced 2/15/2008, by Sen. Emil Jones, Jr.

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

410 ILCS 335/10

Amends the Perinatal HIV Prevention Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning HIV counseling.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning health.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Perinatal HIV Prevention Act is amended by changing Section 10 as follows:

(410 ILCS 335/10)

Sec. 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 the woman with HIV counseling and recommend 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 recommend 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 recommended late in pregnancy or at the time of labor and delivery. The health care professional shall inform the pregnant woman that, should she refuse HIV testing during pregnancy, her newborn infant will be tested for HIV. The counseling and recommendation 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 recommend 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. The health care facility shall adopt a policy that provides that as soon as possible within medical standards after the infant's birth, the mother's HIV test result, if available, shall be noted in the newborn infant's medical record. It shall also be noted in the newborn infant's medical record if the mother's HIV test result is not available because she has not been tested or has declined testing. 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 as soon as possible within medical standards after the infant's birth, provide counseling to the parent or guardian of the infant and perform rapid HIV testing on the infant, when the HIV status of the infant's mother is unknown.

(d) The counseling required under this Section must be provided in accordance with the AIDS Confidentiality Act and must include the following:

(1) For the health of the pregnant woman, the voluntary nature of the testing and the benefits of HIV testing, 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.

(e) All counseling and testing must be performed in accordance with the standards set forth in the AIDS Confidentiality Act, including the written informed consent provisions of Sections 4, 7, and 8 of that 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.

(f) The Illinois Department of Public Health shall adopt necessary rules to implement this Act.

(Source: P.A. 93-566, eff. 8-20-03; 94-910, eff. 6-23-06.)