SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A measure requiring physicians to spell out a patient’s options even if they’re objectionable to the doctor has received Senate approval.

The 34-19 vote sends to the House the plan by Evanston Democratic Sen. Daniel Biss. It would change a 1977 law that allows health care providers to refuse to perform medical procedures they find morally objectionable.

The Biss plan would require that even if a health care provider refuses to treat a patient, it must tell the patient what’s wrong, what options exist, and where treatment is available.

Biss says the proposal arose from the case of a woman who was undergoing a miscarriage over the course of several weeks but the hospital she went to refused to provide a diagnosis or options.

 

 

 

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