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New Legal Protections: Reproductive Health Decisions

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As of January 1, 2025, Illinois law now protects employees and job applicants from discrimination based on their reproductive health decisions. This means you have the right to bring a claim if your employer takes adverse action against you because of choices related to:

  • Birth control or contraception
  • Fertility treatment or sterilization care
  • Assisted reproductive technologies (such as IVF)
  • Miscarriage management
  • Abortion
  • Pregnancy-related healthcare, including prenatal and postnatal care

These protections apply to both current employees and prospective employees during the hiring process. While Illinois law has long prohibited discrimination based on sex, gender, and pregnancy, this new category of reproductive health decisions goes further by explicitly safeguarding a broad and specific range of personal healthcare choices. Complainants will have two years after the date of the violation to file a charge with the Illinois Department of Human Rights. If you believe your employer may have discriminated against you on the basis of your reproductive health decisions, please feel free to fill out a confidential intake form.

By Whitney L. Barr, Caffarelli & Associates Ltd.

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