Health News Illinois reported: A plan to make sexual assault examinations more accessible with telehealth options was part of a package signed Tuesday by Gov. JB Pritzker.

The proposal will allow a hospital or other approved pediatric healthcare facility to submit a plan to the Department of Public Health that will allow them to provide telehealth access to sexual assault examinations.

Another provision clarifies that such medical examinations for those 13 and older can be performed by a trained in-person examiner and supervised by a qualified medical provider.

It also clarifies language around patient consent for such examinations, specifically that a guardian, spouse, or power of attorney can consent if the sexual assault survivor is without decisional capacity.

“Survivors of sexual violence deserve to have access to high-quality care that respects their trauma and experiences,” bill sponsor Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, said in a statement. “These reforms will strengthen the rights of victims and build upon programs meant to help ease their pathways to recovery.”

The new law is one of three signed Tuesday intended to broaden protections for domestic violence survivors.

Other proposals will clarify that emergency orders of protection will remain in effect until the plenary, or final, order of protection has been served; and require police officers to administer a lethality assessment if there is an allegation of intimate partner domestic violence.

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