Agencies
Services
Director's Letters – Wednesday, June 4, 2025
Director Vohra Reaffirms Illinois's Commitment to Life-Saving Emergency Care
Dear Colleagues,
In Illinois, pregnant patients are entitled to the full range of emergency care services. Governor JB Pritzker and IDPH are committed to ensuring that our residents receive lifesaving, medically necessary emergency health care services.
As you may have seen, the Trump administration on June 3, 2025 rescinded 2022 U.S. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) guidance that hospitals are required to provide all life-saving emergency care to patients, including abortions when warranted.
However, Illinois patients will be protected, regardless of federal government backpedaling. Recent state action has placed the protections of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) in Illinois law.
Under the Illinois Hospital Emergency Services Act and the guidelines recently approved by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR), hospitals in the state remain obligated to provide all necessary care. The rules are currently effective; a more detailed explanation of them will follow once they are officially posted on Friday, June 6.
These rules should eliminate confusion and make the following clear:
Hospitals and health care providers have the responsibility to provide necessary healthcare to protect the life and health of a pregnant patient, or anyone else, in a medical emergency.
In addition, you should be aware that on June 2nd, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) released a new practice advisory on the care physicians should provide to patients whose water breaks prematurely. The advisory stresses that there are instances in which timely access to abortion can save the life of the mother.
The Illinois Department of Public Health is ready to assist anyone who believes they were denied their right to adequate care in any medical facility in the state.
Special thanks to the leadership of Governor JB Pritzker, the Illinois General Assembly, and JCAR, Illinois remains a state where everyone can receive the essential care they deserve.
The Illinois Department of Public Health is proud to join with them, and with hospitals and providers across the state, to deliver on that promise.
Yours in good health,
Sameer Vohra, MD, JD, MA
Director
Illinois Department of Public Health
