What Illinois law allows — and prohibits — with regard to abortion

Access to abortion remains legal in Illinois, which restricts the procedure only after the point of viability — the time at which a fetus can survive outside the womb.

While medical science places viability at 24 to 26 weeks, Illinois law does not specify a time frame, enabling medical personnel to determine viability on a case-by-case basis.

The 2019 Reproductive Health Act, which replaced Illinois’ Abortion Act of 1975, upholds “the fundamental rights of individuals to make autonomous decisions about one’s own reproductive health, including the fundamental right to use or refuse reproductive health care.”

The 2019 law also allows individuals to use or refuse contraception or sterilization and allows pregnant women “to continue the pregnancy and give birth to a child, or to have an abortion.” The law prohibits the state from denying, interfering with or discriminating against these fundamental rights.

Under Illinois law, “a fertilized egg, embryo or fetus does not have independent rights.”

As of June 1, minors in Illinois no longer need to notify their parents to seek an abortion.

• The Associated Press contributed to this report.

https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20220624/what-illinois-law-allows-x2014-and-prohibits-x2014-with-regard-to-abortion