An Overview of Illinois Abortion Law

Introduction

Laws around accessing abortion vary from state to state. Illinois has established a comprehensive legal framework to protect and ensure access to abortion care. The state of Illinois upholds the fundamental right of individuals to make autonomous decisions about their reproductive health. Current laws and policies reflect Illinois’ commitment to preserving reproductive rights and ensuring access to essential healthcare services.

Illinois Law and Policy Highlights

The Reproductive Health Act, signed into law by Governor J.B. Pritzker in 2019, expanded abortion rights throughout Illinois. In 2021, the Parental Notification Act was repealed, giving pregnant minors the autonomy to decide whether or not to involve a legal guardian or family member in their decision. The details of both acts are outlined below.

Abortion Protections
The Reproductive Health Act of 2019 established a fundamental right to make individual decisions about reproductive health, without government interference. Abortion is legal after viability if it is in the best interest of the mother’s mental or physical well-being.

Statutory abortion protections:
In Illinois, (a) every individual has a fundamental right to make autonomous decisions about the individual’s own reproductive health, including the fundamental right to use or refuse reproductive health care. (b) Every individual who becomes pregnant has a fundamental right to continue the pregnancy and give birth or to have an abortion, and to make autonomous decisions about how to exercise that right. (c) A fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus does not have independent rights under the laws of this State.

Parental Involvement for Minors:
In Illinois, clinics are not legally obligated to contact a parent or legal guardian for individuals under 18 who are seeking abortion services.

Public/Private funding:
Illinois provides public funding for all or most medically necessary abortions and requires private insurance plans to cover abortion care.

Healthcare providers of abortion:
Illinois law authorizes physicians and certain Advanced Practice Clinicians (APCs) to provide abortion care consistent with their scope of practice.

A health care professional may provide abortion care in accordance with the health care professional’s professional judgment and training and based on accepted standards of clinical  practice consistent with the scope of his or her practice under the Medical Practice Act of 1987, the Nurse Practice Act, or the Physician Assistant Practice Act of 1987.

Illinois Statutes Chapter 775. Human Rights § 55/1-25.

Illinois HB 4664 Provider and Protection Act signed into law 1/12/2023: Clarifies the ability of advanced practice registered nurses and physicians’ assistants to provide aspiration abortion care in Illinois. Also, allows out-of-state physicians, physicians assistants, and advanced practice registered nurses the ability to practice health care in Illinois pursuant to a 2-year temporary license to meet the increased need for abortion care in Illinois.

Nurse Practitioner (NP) and Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) Practice in Illinois
Illinois is a state with full practice authority for nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives. Full practice authority refers to state practice and licensure laws which allow NPs and CNMs to autonomously practice to the full extent of their education, clinical training, and board certification under the licensure authority of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation without supervision or collaborative agreement requirements.

Shield Law for In-State Provision of Care:
Illinois enacted an abortion shield law in January 2023. This law protects patients and medical providers from legal attacks by other states and expands health care access and options across Illinois. Additionally, it safeguards the Illinois licenses of healthcare providers who are licensed in multiple states, preventing them from losing their licenses for providing care legal in Illinois but prohibited in other states. The law also ensures that insurers cannot charge higher fees for out- of-network care when in-network providers refuse treatment on moral grounds.

State and local officials cannot give information to out-of-state entities investigating health care that was legally provided in Illinois, including abortions. Illinois hospitals also must provide emergency medical care to people who come to the hospital. This care includes abortions when an abortion is needed to help a patient’s injury or acute medical condition that is likely to cause death, severe injury, or serious illness. In July 2023, the state enacted the Deceptive Practices Related to Limited Services Pregnancy
Centers Act, which prohibits anti-abortion centers from using deception to interfere with a person seeking access to abortion.

Health record data privacy:
State and local officials cannot give information to out-of-state entities investigating health care that was legally provided in Illinois, including abortions.

Telehealth:
Illinois allows for all virtual telehealth care. Telehealth enables health care clinicians to treat patients virtually without an in-person appointment. Patients can connect directly with a healthcare clinician from any location, and this can be done in a variety of modalities ways, including via live synchronous video, synchronous audio-only, and asynchronous store-and- forward modalities, such as video (“synchronous”), the phone, secured chat (“asynchronous”), and other telecommunications.

Waiting Period:
Illinois does not require you to attend a counseling session or go through a waiting period before getting an abortion.

Reporting of Abortions Performed by Health Care Professionals (775 ILL. COMP. STAT. 55/1-25(a))
Illinois has reporting requirements:
(a) A health care professional may provide abortion care in accordance with the health care professional’s professional judgment and training and based on accepted standards of clinical practice consistent with the scope of his or her practice under the Medical Practice Act of 1987, the Nurse Practice Act, or the Physician Assistant Practice Act of 1987. An advanced practice registered nurse or physician assistant as defined in this Act may perform aspiration abortion procedures that do not require general anesthesia, consistent with their training and standards of clinical practice and, if applicable, consistent with any collaborative agreement. If the health care professional determines that there is fetal viability, the health care professional may provide abortion care only if, in the professional judgment of the health care professional, the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the patient.

(b) A report of each abortion performed by a health care professional shall be made to the Department on forms prescribed by it. Such reports shall be transmitted to the Department not later than 10 days following the end of the month in which the abortion is performed.

(c) The abortion reporting forms prescribed by the Department shall not request or require information that identifies a patient by name or any other identifying information, and the Department shall secure anonymity of all patients and health care professionals.

(d) All reports received by the Department pursuant to this Section shall be treated as confidential and exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. Access to such reports shall be limited to authorized Department staff who shall use the reports for statistical purposes only. Such reports must be destroyed within 2 years after date of receipt.

Section 505.40 Pregnancy Termination Report Code, Submission of Information (775 ILL. COMP. STAT. 55/1-25(b); ILL. ADMIN. CODE tit. 77, § 505.40.)

Professional and Legal Resources:
Laws and policies related to abortion and professional practice will continue to evolve. Participating in professional organizations and groups with expertise in abortion and reproductive health, such as those listed here, is an essential way to remain knowledgeable of policy changes and engaged in advocacy efforts.

National Abortion Federation (NAF)
Society of Family Planning (SFP)
Nurses for Sexual and Reproductive Health (NSRH)
If/When/How: Lawyers for Reproductive Justice
Abortion Defense Network
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)
Association of Physician Associates in Obstetrics and Gynecology (APAOG)
American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM)
National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health (NPWH)
American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP)

References:
1. America Association of Nurse Practitioners. State practice environment. AANP.org. Updated September 2025. Accessed May 22, 2025.
https://www.aanp.org/advocacy/state/state-practice-environment. ↵

2. American College of Nurse-Midwives. Full practice authority. Midwive.org. Accessed May 22, 2025. https://legacy.midwife.org/full-practice-authority-stad

3. Increasing Access to Abortion: ACOG Committee Opinion, Number 815. Obstetrics & Gynecology 136(6):p e107-e115, December 2020. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33214531/

4. Illinois Statutes Chapter 775. Human Rights § 55/1-25. https://ilga.gov/Documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/077500550K1-25.htm

5. 775 ILL. COMP. STAT. 55/1-25(a). https://ilga.gov/Documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/077500550K1-25.htm

6. 775 ILL. COMP. STAT. 55/1-25(b); ILL. ADMIN. CODE tit. 77, § 505.40. https://ilga.gov/commission/jcar/admincode/077/077005050000400R.html

7. Laws by State. Retrieved from https://reproductiverights.org/maps/abortion-laws-by-state/illinois/