Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP)

Illinois imposes a variety of burdensome requirements on abortion providers that are not imposed on other health care providers, including:

Restrictions on Where Abortions May Be Performed

Illinois places medically unnecessary restrictions on where abortions may be performed.

Outpatient abortion clinics are a subcategory of ambulatory surgical treatment centers.  They are required to be licensed, are regulated by the state, and are limited to performing abortions up to 18 weeks.  Ill. Admin. Code tit. 77, § 205.710.

The state designated "any facility in which a medical or surgical procedure is utilized to terminate a pregnancy, irrespective of whether the facility is devoted primarily to this purpose" as an ambulatory surgical treatment center, subject to a variety of stringent requirements.  Other non-abortion-related facilities were only required to become licensed as ambulatory surgical treatment centers if they were "devoted primarily" to the performance of surgery.  210 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. §5/3(A) (Enacted 1973; Last Amended 1994).

When Illinois tried to single out abortion providers for more onerous restrictions not imposed on other medical providers, a federal court held the regulations unenforceable. Ragsdale v. Turnock, 625 F. Supp 1212 (N.D. Ill. 1985).

The regulations required providers who performed any abortions to become surgical centers, which were the "'functional equivalent of small hospitals.'"  Ragsdale v. Turnock, 734 F. Supp. 1457, 1460 (N.D. Ill. 1990) (quoting Ragsdale v. Turnock, 625 F.Supp. 1212, 1216 (N.D. Ill. 1985).  After a court held that the regulatory scheme "infring[ed] on the constitutional right of women to have an abortion," the parties settled the case with an agreement that enjoined enforcement of the more onerous provisions but permitted the state to continue to regulate outpatient abortion clinics in ways that are not medically justified.

Restrictions on Who May Perform Abortions

Illinois prohibits certain qualified health care professionals from performing abortions.

Only a physician licensed by the state may perform an abortion.  720 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 510/3.1 (Enacted 1979; Last Amended 1989), 720 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 510/2(2) (Enacted 1975; Last Amended 1988).  In addition, any corporation operating as an ambulatory surgical center devoted primarily to providing facilities for abortion must have a licensed physician who is actively engaged in the practice of medicine at the center and on the Board of Directors for the corporation.  Ill. Admin. Code tit. 77, § 205.118(d).

A court upheld Illinois' physician-only requirement as applied to a chiropractor.  People v. White, 387 N.E.2d 728 (Ill. App. Ct. 1978), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1090 (1980).