Illinois Assisted Reproductive Healthcare Advisory Question (2024)

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Illinois Assisted Reproductive Healthcare Advisory Question (2024)
Flag of Illinois.png
Election date
November 5, 2024
Topic
Healthcare
Status
Approveda Approved
Type
Advisory question

The Illinois Assisted Reproductive Healthcare Advisory Question was on the ballot in Illinois as an advisory question on November 5, 2024. The ballot measure was approved.

A "yes" vote supported advising state officials on whether to provide for medically assisted reproductive treatments, including in vitro fertilization, to be covered by any health insurance plan in Illinois that provides full coverage to pregnancy benefits.

A "no" vote opposed advising state officials on whether to provide for medically assisted reproductive treatments, including in vitro fertilization, to be covered by any health insurance plan in Illinois that provides full coverage to pregnancy benefits.


Election results

Illinois Assisted Reproductive Healthcare Advisory Question

Result Votes Percentage

Approved Yes

3,914,126 72.64%
No 1,474,158 27.36%
Results are officially certified.
Source


Overview

What did this advisory question ask voters?

See also: Text of measure

This measure was a non-binding advisory question which asked voters on whether to provide for medically assisted reproductive treatments, including in vitro fertilization, to be covered by any health insurance plan in Illinois that provides full coverage to pregnancy benefits. Because this measure was a non-binding advisory question, it had no legal effect on a state's laws, but allowed for government officials to gauge public opinion..[1]

How do advisory questions work in Illinois?

See also: Types of ballot measures in Illinois

An advisory question is a type of ballot measure that ask votes a non-binding question. The largest difference between an advisory vote and any other type of ballot measure is that the outcome of the ballot question is not legally binding and will not directly result in a new, changed, or rejected law or constitutional amendment. Rather, the advisory question allows voters to express their general opinion on the issue.

In Illinois, only three advisory questions are allowed on statewide ballots at one election.

How did this advisory question get on the ballot?

See also: Path to the ballot

In Illinois, advisory questions require a simple majority vote in each legislative chamber during one legislative session, and require a governor's signature to get on the ballot.

The advisory questions were proposed in Illinois Senate Bill 2412 (SB2412), which was sponsored by State Sen. Don Harmon (D) and State Rep. Jay Hoffman (D). In addition to the referendum questions, SB2412 also blocked established political party committees from putting candidates on the general election ballot if they do not go through the primary process.

SB2412 passed the Illinois House of Representatives by 67-4 on May 1, 2024, with 67 Democrats voting for the bill, four Democrats voting against it, and 39 Republicans and 4 Democrats not voting on the measure. The bill then passed the Illinois State Senate by 35-3 on May 2, 2024, with 35 Democrats voting for the bill and 3 Democrats voting against it, while 19 Republicans and 1 Democrat did not vote.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title was as follows:[1]

Should all medically appropriate assisted reproductive treatments, including, but not limited to, in vitro fertilization, be covered by any health insurance plan in Illinois that provides coverage for pregnancy benefits, without limitation on the number of treatments?[2]

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2024

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The state legislature wrote the ballot language for this measure.

The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 23, and the FRE is -7. The word count for the ballot title is 37.


Support

Ballotpedia did not locate a campaign in support of the ballot measure.

Opposition

Ballotpedia did not locate a campaign in opposition to the ballot measure.

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Illinois ballot measures

Ballotpedia did not identify ballot measure committees registered to support or oppose the ballot measure.[3]

Cash Contributions In-Kind Contributions Total Contributions Cash Expenditures Total Expenditures
Support $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Oppose $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Total $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Background

Advisory questions in Illinois

See also: Advisory question

An advisory question is a type of ballot measure that ask votes a non-binding question. The largest difference between an advisory vote and any other type of ballot measure is that the outcome of the ballot question is not legally binding and will not directly result in a new, changed, or rejected law or constitutional amendment. Rather, the advisory question allows voters to express their general opinion on the issue.

In Illinois, advisory questions require a simple majority vote in each legislative chamber during one legislative session. That amounts to a minimum of 60 votes in the Illinois House of Representatives and 30 votes in the Illinois State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Advisory questions require the governor's signature to appear on the ballot.

Between 1982 and 2023, Illinois voters decided on three advisory questions. All of these advisory questions were on the ballot in 2014. Voters approved all three advisory questions.

  • Minimum Wage Increase Question (2014): This measure asked voters whether they supported increasing the hourly minimum wage to $10 by January 1, 2015. Voters approved the question by 63.74%-31.76%.
  • Birth Control in Prescription Drug Coverage Question (2014): This measure asked voters whether prescription birth control should be covered in health insurance plans with prescription drug coverage. Voters approved the question by 63.00%-32.34%.
  • Millionaire Tax Increase for Education Question (2014): This measure asked voters whether they supported increasing the tax on incomes greater than one million dollars by 3 percent for the purpose of providing additional revenue to school districts based on their number of students. Voters approved the question by 59.95%-34.24%.

Path to the ballot

Process in Illinois

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Illinois

Advisory questions require a simple majority vote in each legislative chamber during one legislative session. That amounts to a minimum of 60 votes in the Illinois House of Representatives and 30 votes in the Illinois State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Advisory questions require the governor's signature to appear on the ballot.

Three advisory questions for the 2024 ballot were proposed in Illinois Senate Bill 2412 (SB2412). SB2412 passed the House on May 1, 2024 by 67-4. It passed the Senate on May 2, 2024 by 35-3, and was signed by the governor on May 3, 2024.

Vote in the Illinois House of Representatives
May 1, 2024
Requirement:
Number of yes votes required: 60  Approveda
YesNoNot voting
Total67443
Total percent58.77%3.5%37.7%
Democrat6744
Republican0039

Vote in the Illinois State Senate
May 2, 2024
Requirement: Simple majority vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 30  Approveda
YesNoNot voting
Total35320
Total percent60.34%5.1%34.4%
Democrat3531
Republican0019

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in Illinois

See below to learn more about current voter registration rules, identification requirements, and poll times in Illinois.

How to vote in Illinois


See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. 1.0 1.1 Illinois General Assembly, "Full Text of SB2412," accessed May 8, 2024
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  3. Illinois Division of Campaign Finance Disclosure, "Search," accessed May 24, 2024
  4. Illinois State Board of Elections, "Election Day Information," accessed August 12, 2024
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Illinois State Board of Elections, "Registering to Vote in Illinois," accessed August 12, 2024
  6. Ballotpedia Legislation Tracker, "Illinois SB2123," accessed August 12, 2024
  7. Illinois State Board of Elections, "Frequently Asked Questions," accessed August 12, 2024
  8. Under federal law, the national mail voter registration application (a version of which is in use in all states with voter registration systems) requires applicants to indicate that they are U.S. citizens in order to complete an application to vote in state or federal elections, but does not require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the application "may require only the minimum amount of information necessary to prevent duplicate voter registrations and permit State officials both to determine the eligibility of the applicant to vote and to administer the voting process."
  9. Illinois State Board of Elections, "Illinois Voter Information," June 16, 2015