Public Act 93-0143

HB1843 Enrolled                      LRB093 04947 MBS 05006 b

    AN ACT in relation to health.

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

    Section  5.  The  Hospital  Licensing  Act  is amended by
adding Section 6.21 as follows:

    (210 ILCS 85/6.21 new)
    Sec. 6.21. Umbilical cord blood donation.
    (a)  All  licensed  hospitals  shall  offer  a   pregnant
patient  the  option  to  donate,  to  a  publicly accessible
certified cord blood bank, blood extracted from the umbilical
cord following  the  delivery  of  a  newborn  child  if  the
donation can be made at no expense to the patient or hospital
for collection or storage.
    (b)  Nothing  in  this  Section  obligates  a hospital to
collect umbilical cord blood if, in the professional judgment
of a physician licensed  to  practice  medicine  in  all  its
branches or a nurse, the collection would threaten the health
of the mother or child.
    (c)  Nothing  in  this Section imposes a requirement upon
any hospital employee, physician, nurse, or hospital that  is
directly  affiliated  with a bona fide religious denomination
that  includes  as  an  integral  part  of  its  beliefs  and
practices the tenet that blood transfer is  contrary  to  the
moral   principles   the  denomination  considers  to  be  an
essential part of its beliefs.