SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Suzy Glowiak Hilton supported a new law recently signed on Friday to expand women’s access to healthy pregnancies and fetal development.

“Good nutrition is key for expecting mothers, and not all women have access to reliable sources of vitamins and minerals,” said Glowiak Hilton (D-Western Springs). “By expanding insurance coverage to include prenatal vitamins, we will improve access to supplements that lead to safer pregnancy experiences and healthy births.”

The new law requires insurance policies that already cover prescription drugs to also cover prenatal vitamins. Prenatal vitamins, when prescribed by a licensed physician, can have many health benefits to both mother and child that range from supplying more oxygen to the baby to preventing bone loss in the mother.

OAKBROOK TERRACE – To streamline the detection process and determine hereditary risks for breast and ovarian cancers in women, a new law that passed with support from State Senator Suzy Glowiak Hilton requires insurance companies to cover the cost of genetic testing kits.

“Early detection through genetic testing is essential for women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancers,” said Glowiak Hilton (D-Western Springs). “By requiring insurance coverage for genetic testing, Illinois can offer comfort to women at the most risk.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the genes most commonly detected in hereditary breast and ovarian cancer are the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. About 3% of breast cancers, approximately 7,500 women per year, and 10% of ovarian cancers, an estimated 2,000 women per year, result from inherited mutations.

SPRINGFIELD – The governor signed a plan into law Friday led by State Senator Suzy Glowiak Hilton to invest in child care services for workers with non-traditional schedules, such as law enforcement officers, firefighters, EMS personnel and more.

“Finding reliable child care can be difficult for first responders and other third shift emergency workers,” said Glowiak Hilton (D-Western Springs). “By creating the Off-hours Child Care Program Fund, Illinois is working to increase accessibility for parents in public service who work non-traditional hours.”

Under Glowiak Hilton’s law, the Department of Human Services is required to establish and administer an Off-Hours Child Care Program to assist first responders and other workers with access to off-hours, night, or sleep time child care. The program is appropriated $2 million in the Fiscal Year 2023 budget.

OAKBROOK TERRACE – To address rising rates of vehicle thefts throughout Illinois, State Senator Suzy Glowiak Hilton supported three measures to offer protections to motorists and assistance to investigators that were signed into law Thursday.

“Commuters and families are worried to be on the roadways due to the rise in reported carjackings,” said Glowiak Hilton (D-Western Springs). “To offer protections to motorists, these new laws in Illinois will soon help crack down on car thefts and prevent victims from paying speeding fees or fines after the crime is committed.”

House Bill 601 addresses new and sophisticated technology used by car thieves that can replicate the signal from a vehicle’s key fob and be used to start a vehicle remotely. The new law adds possession of this technology to the legal definition of possession of burglary tools, allowing law enforcement to take action on organized vehicle thefts.