North Egypt News

Illinois State Senator Terri Bryant (R) spoke out against Senate Bill 333 in a Facebook post published on Friday.

"Yesterday, Senate Democrats passed Senate Bill 333, which would delay the process of notifying and reporting the sexual assault of survivors 13 years and older to law enforcement," Bryant wrote. "On multiple levels, this is simply a bad bill. This legislation enables abusers, endangers local communities and potentially prevents justice from being served."

In 2022, Bryant ran unopposed for her seat in the State Senate representing District 58 and was reelected in the November general election.

In her initial post, Bryant shared a video of her speech on the Senate floor regarding SB 333.

"The sponsor mentioned real-life experiences," Bryant said. "So, I want to give a real-life experience involving this bill. And then some statements toward it. A woman comes to the ER, brought by her abuser, who this time went just a little bit too far so he’s nervous about the injuries that she’s sustained. [He] doesn’t leave her side, or her eyeshot, or his eyeshot, or because he’s there, she believes he’s within earshot. She will not ask for assistance. She’s not going to ask the doctors or the nurses to call law enforcement because she’s scared of her abuser being there. In the case of law enforcement being called, they’re trauma-informed. They’re trained now because of statutes to deal with these issues. The person who has been assaulted at any time can say 'No I don’t want to talk to them'.”

"Second example: The person is discharged- they can call law enforcement, but they have to do it within 24 hours, but the person is back in control of the abuser. The abuser is controlling what the person says or does. They’re not going to respond when law enforcement is called because they’re back in control of that person."

"Those are real-life examples, both of which happened to one a close friend, one to a family member. I explained in committee that this is a very regressive bill. We have worked very hard in the legislature to make sure that those who are being abused, sexually or otherwise are taken care of. This takes us back 10 steps or more in that process."

"Law enforcement is uniquely trained to support victims of sexual assault. It’s preposterous, absolutely preposterous that children should be allowed to be in the hospital for sexual assault without police involvement in any scenario. And even though this bill has been amended so that 13-year-olds can make a decision, over and over and over again in this body, the hypocrisy of saying brain science comes into effect, and now saying a 13-year-old can make the decision of whether they want to notify the police."

"Moreover, 13-year-olds should be immediately protected as victims, especially if their abuser is someone who failed to protect them from the abuse. There was a particular scenario where the abuser might be a sibling, and if the parent is there at the hospital and someone who's not really trained to make the decision says 'Oh that parent is the non-abuser,' might be protecting the other sibling. Over and over and over again, there are issues that say this is a bad bill."

SB 333 was sponsored by State Senator David Koehler (D) and filed on February 2. The bill would determine when a medical facility is required to report injuries to law enforcement.

“It is the duty of any person conducting or operating a medical facility, or any physician or nurse, as soon as treatment permits, to notify the local law enforcement agency of that jurisdiction upon the application for treatment of a person who is not accompanied by a law enforcement officer, when it reasonably appears that the person requesting treatment has received: (1) any injury resulting from the discharge of a firearm; or (2) victim of a criminal offense; or (3) any injury sustained as a victim of a criminal offense," a SB 333 amendment reads. "Except, when it reasonably appears that the person requesting treatment is a sexual assault survivors age 13 or older, a person conducting or operating a medical facility, or a physician or nurse at the medical facility, must notify the local law enforcement as follows: (A) If a sexual assault survivor consents to notification being made, local law enforcement must be notified as soon as treatment permits. If the sexual assault or sexual abuse occurred in another jurisdiction, the law enforcement officer taking the report must submit the report to the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction as provided in subsection (c) of Section 20 of the Sexual Assault Incident Procedure Act."

"The health care provider must advise the survivor about the options for timing of the law enforcement notification, ask the survivor if the survivor has been threatened, and offer to connect the survivor with a rape crisis center for safety planning, if appropriate," the bill continues. "If a sexual assault survivor does not consent to notification being made as soon as treatment permits, notification to the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction must be delayed until after the sexual assault survivor leaves the outpatient treatment location, but no later than 24 hours after the sexual assault survivor leaves. If the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction cannot be reasonably determined, then notification shall be made to the local law enforcement agency of the medical facility."

Koehler issued a statement celebrating the bill's beneficial impact on sexual assault survivors and advocates following the bill's passage in the Senate on Thursday.

“The most important thing we can do for survivors of sexual assault is make them feel safe,” Koehler said. “Many survivors know who assaulted them personally. By giving survivors the choice of when and how they would like to report their case to the authorities, we are giving them the ability to safely seek justice.”