Illinois restricts feds' access to autism data
Why it matters: The order is in response to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s push for an autism registry, which he says has the goal of finding the causes and possible interventions for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
1 in 31 children and 1 in 45 adults in the U.S. have autism, according to Autism Speaks.
Illinois is one of the first states to officially restrict the federal government from accessing state data on autism.
The latest: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced last week they will build a platform to collect data from claims and electronic medical records to conduct research on the causes of ASD.
Both agencies stress that data will be shared "in a manner consistent with applicable privacy laws to protect Americans' sensitive health information."
Axios asked HHS for specifics of how it plans to protect the data but did not immediately receive a response.
Reality check: More than a dozen autism advocacy organizations have pushed back on Kennedy's rhetoric that autism is "curable" and his past comments that vaccines cause autism.
"Claims that autism is 'preventable' are not supported by scientific consensus and perpetuate stigma. Language framing autism as a 'chronic disease,' a 'childhood disease' or 'epidemic' distorts public understanding and undermines respect for autistic people," a statement reads.
Between the lines: The executive order recognizes that federal law requires some data to be shared for specific, authorized purposes, like Medicaid and Medicare claims, according to state officials.
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This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text. Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here Taylor Wilson: Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Tuesday, July 29th, 2025. This is USA TODAY's The Excerpt. Today, the latest from Gaza amid severe hunger worries, plus breaking down Trump's comments about Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell this week, and what's at stake in a slew of upcoming governor races? ♦ For the second day running yesterday, Israel paused its military operations in Gaza to improve the humanitarian response. That follows a series of alarming warnings from world leaders and global officials from the United Nations World Health Organization and from dozens of humanitarian agencies that malnutrition and even starvation in Gaza are on a dangerous trajectory. 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