Protecting the Immunocompromised: New Bill Moves to Ban Mask Bans
Illinois may soon become a leader in public health and disability rights with a groundbreaking bill that would prohibit statewide bans on mask-wearing.
Co-written by Megan E. Doherty and a coalition of disability advocates—many of whom live with chronic illness and autoimmune disease—the bill affirms that wearing a mask is a necessary, life-protecting choice, not a threat.
Specifically, the Protective Medical Equipment Freedom Act (HB3853) outlines the following protections:
- It will prevent discrimination against individuals who choose to wear protective medical equipment, ensuring that no one is denied service, employment, or access to public spaces because of health precautions taken for themselves, their families, or their communities.
- Neither operators of places of public accommodation nor public officials can infringe on this right, which includes protection from any pressure to remove their mask or not wear it in public.
- The only person who can remove the mask is the person wearing it.
- People can’t be forced to disclose their health status or other protective information.
- With oversight from the Illinois Attorney General, this bill includes clear protections against discrimination, retaliation, and harassment, ensuring compliance and accountability through meaningful penalties. The Attorney General would be responsible for creating reporting mechanisms while investigating violations.
People with autoimmune diseases like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis are often immunocompromised, whether due to the disease itself or the medications they rely on. This bill directly protects their right to safely access public spaces without fear of stigma or criminalization. It also covers those still in the lengthy process of being formally diagnosed, which is very common with autoimmune disease, who would likely be excluded from narrow “health exemptions” in anti-mask legislation.
Doherty and her co-authors argue that masking is a disability rights issue, a public health tool, and a matter of dignity and bodily autonomy. The bill builds on Illinois’s 2023 success in banning book bans, offering a blueprint for other states to take proactive steps in future-proofing the right to mask, especially important as the risk of Long COVID and other post-viral complications remains high.
For autoimmune patients and allies nationwide, this is a moment of collective power and visibility.