What happened?

On August 7, 2024, Governor JB Pritzker signed House Bill 4867 (HB 4867) into law, expanding discrimination related to an individual’s “reproductive health decisions”.

Quick Summary:

Illinois HB 4867:

• Prohibits discrimination based on reproductive health decisions, including contraception, fertility treatments, and abortion.

• Protects individuals from discrimination due to their association with someone else’s reproductive health decisions and does not provide exemptions for religious beliefs.

What are the details?

Key points:

1. Prohibition of Discrimination: the bill expands the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) to include protections against discrimination based on reproductive health decisions. This includes decisions related to contraception, fertility treatments, sterilization, miscarriage management, abortion, and prenatal, intranatal, and postnatal care.

2. Association Clause: protects individuals from discrimination due to their association with someone else’s reproductive health decisions. For example, an employee cannot be discriminated against because their partner or family member made a particular reproductive health decision.

3. Public Policy Declaration: declares it the public policy of Illinois to ensure freedom from unlawful discrimination in making reproductive health decisions.

4. No Religious Exemptions: the bill does not provide exemptions for religious beliefs, meaning all employers, regardless of their religious affiliations, must comply with these anti-discrimination provisions.

Business Considerations

• Employers should update anti-discrimination policies to explicitly include protections against discrimination based on reproductive health decisions and associations with such decisions.
• Employers should review and revise employment practices to ensure they do not inadvertently discriminate based on reproductive health decisions and implement procedures to manage related complaints promptly and fairly.

Source References

• Gov. Pritzker Signs Landmark Legislation Further Expanding Reproductive Rights in Illinois
• IL HB 4867

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