Bill Text: TX HB4463 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to required counseling before an abortion is performed.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-26 - Referred to Public Health [HB4463 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HB4463-Introduced.html
By: King of Parker | H.B. No. 4463 |
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relating to required counseling before an abortion is performed. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 171.012(a), Health and Safety Code, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) Consent to an abortion is voluntary and informed only | ||
if: | ||
(1) the physician who is to perform the abortion | ||
informs the pregnant woman on whom the abortion is to be performed | ||
of: | ||
(A) the physician's name; | ||
(B) the particular medical risks associated with | ||
the particular abortion procedure to be employed, including, when | ||
medically accurate: | ||
(i) the risks of infection and hemorrhage; | ||
(ii) the potential danger to a subsequent | ||
pregnancy and of infertility; and | ||
(iii) the possibility of increased risk of | ||
breast cancer following an induced abortion and the natural | ||
protective effect of a completed pregnancy in avoiding breast | ||
cancer; | ||
(C) the probable gestational age of the unborn | ||
child at the time the abortion is to be performed; and | ||
(D) the medical risks associated with carrying | ||
the child to term; | ||
(2) the physician who is to perform the abortion or the | ||
physician's agent informs the pregnant woman that: | ||
(A) medical assistance benefits may be available | ||
for prenatal care, childbirth, and neonatal care; | ||
(B) the father is liable for assistance in the | ||
support of the child without regard to whether the father has | ||
offered to pay for the abortion; and | ||
(C) public and private agencies provide | ||
pregnancy prevention counseling and medical referrals for | ||
obtaining pregnancy prevention medications or devices, including | ||
emergency contraception for victims of rape or incest; | ||
(3) the physician who is to perform the abortion or the | ||
physician's agent: | ||
(A) provides the pregnant woman with the printed | ||
materials described by Section 171.014; and | ||
(B) informs the pregnant woman that those | ||
materials: | ||
(i) have been provided by the commission | ||
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(ii) are accessible on an Internet website | ||
sponsored by the commission [ |
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(iii) describe the unborn child and list | ||
agencies that offer alternatives to abortion; and | ||
(iv) include a list of agencies that offer | ||
sonogram services at no cost to the pregnant woman; | ||
(4) before any sedative or anesthesia is administered | ||
to the pregnant woman and at least 24 hours before the abortion or | ||
at least two hours before the abortion if the pregnant woman waives | ||
this requirement by certifying that she currently lives 100 miles | ||
or more from the nearest abortion provider that is a facility | ||
licensed under Chapter 245 or a facility that performs more than 50 | ||
abortions in any 12-month period: | ||
(A) the physician who is to perform the abortion | ||
or an agent of the physician who is also a sonographer certified by | ||
a national registry of medical sonographers performs a sonogram on | ||
the pregnant woman on whom the abortion is to be performed; | ||
(B) the physician who is to perform the abortion | ||
displays the sonogram images in a quality consistent with current | ||
medical practice in a manner that the pregnant woman may view them; | ||
(C) the physician who is to perform the abortion | ||
provides, in a manner understandable to a layperson, a verbal | ||
explanation of the results of the sonogram images, including a | ||
medical description of the dimensions of the embryo or fetus, the | ||
presence of cardiac activity, and the presence of external members | ||
and internal organs; and | ||
(D) the physician who is to perform the abortion | ||
or an agent of the physician who is also a sonographer certified by | ||
a national registry of medical sonographers makes audible the heart | ||
auscultation for the pregnant woman to hear, if present, in a | ||
quality consistent with current medical practice and provides, in a | ||
manner understandable to a layperson, a simultaneous verbal | ||
explanation of the heart auscultation; | ||
(5) before receiving a sonogram under Subdivision | ||
(4)(A) and before the abortion is performed and before any sedative | ||
or anesthesia is administered, the pregnant woman completes and | ||
certifies with her signature an election form that states as | ||
follows: | ||
"ABORTION AND SONOGRAM ELECTION | ||
(1) THE INFORMATION AND PRINTED MATERIALS DESCRIBED BY | ||
SECTIONS 171.012(a)(1)-(3), TEXAS HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE, HAVE BEEN | ||
PROVIDED AND EXPLAINED TO ME. | ||
(2) I UNDERSTAND THE NATURE AND CONSEQUENCES OF AN | ||
ABORTION. | ||
(3) TEXAS LAW REQUIRES THAT I RECEIVE A SONOGRAM PRIOR | ||
TO RECEIVING AN ABORTION. | ||
(4) I UNDERSTAND THAT I HAVE THE OPTION TO VIEW THE | ||
SONOGRAM IMAGES. | ||
(5) I UNDERSTAND THAT I HAVE THE OPTION TO HEAR THE | ||
HEARTBEAT. | ||
(6) I UNDERSTAND THAT I AM REQUIRED BY LAW TO HEAR AN | ||
EXPLANATION OF THE SONOGRAM IMAGES UNLESS I CERTIFY IN WRITING TO | ||
ONE OF THE FOLLOWING: | ||
___ I AM PREGNANT AS A RESULT OF A SEXUAL ASSAULT, INCEST, OR | ||
OTHER VIOLATION OF THE TEXAS PENAL CODE THAT HAS BEEN REPORTED TO | ||
LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES OR THAT HAS NOT BEEN REPORTED BECAUSE I | ||
REASONABLY BELIEVE THAT DOING SO WOULD PUT ME AT RISK OF RETALIATION | ||
RESULTING IN SERIOUS BODILY INJURY. | ||
___ I AM A MINOR AND OBTAINING AN ABORTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH | ||
JUDICIAL BYPASS PROCEDURES UNDER CHAPTER 33, TEXAS FAMILY CODE. | ||
___ MY FETUS HAS AN IRREVERSIBLE MEDICAL CONDITION OR | ||
ABNORMALITY, AS IDENTIFIED BY RELIABLE DIAGNOSTIC PROCEDURES AND | ||
DOCUMENTED IN MY MEDICAL FILE. | ||
(7) I AM MAKING THIS ELECTION OF MY OWN FREE WILL AND | ||
WITHOUT COERCION. | ||
(8) FOR A WOMAN WHO LIVES 100 MILES OR MORE FROM THE | ||
NEAREST ABORTION PROVIDER THAT IS A FACILITY LICENSED UNDER CHAPTER | ||
245, TEXAS HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE, OR A FACILITY THAT PERFORMS MORE | ||
THAN 50 ABORTIONS IN ANY 12-MONTH PERIOD ONLY: | ||
I CERTIFY THAT, BECAUSE I CURRENTLY LIVE 100 MILES OR MORE | ||
FROM THE NEAREST ABORTION PROVIDER THAT IS A FACILITY LICENSED | ||
UNDER CHAPTER 245, TEXAS HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE, OR A FACILITY THAT | ||
PERFORMS MORE THAN 50 ABORTIONS IN ANY 12-MONTH PERIOD, I WAIVE THE | ||
REQUIREMENT TO WAIT 24 HOURS AFTER THE SONOGRAM IS PERFORMED BEFORE | ||
RECEIVING THE ABORTION PROCEDURE. MY PLACE OF RESIDENCE | ||
IS:__________. | ||
______________________________ | ||
SIGNATURE DATE"; | ||
(6) before the abortion is performed, the physician | ||
who is to perform the abortion receives a copy of the signed, | ||
written certification required by Subdivision (5); [ |
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(7) the pregnant woman is provided the name of each | ||
person who provides or explains the information required under this | ||
subsection; and | ||
(8) except during a medical emergency and before the | ||
abortion is performed, the physician certifies using a unique | ||
identifying number, devoid of personally identifying information | ||
of the pregnant woman, that: | ||
(A) the pregnant woman received pre-abortion | ||
counseling at no cost to the pregnant woman from a counselor who: | ||
(i) meets the qualifications established by | ||
commission rule; | ||
(ii) is not employed by, contracted with, | ||
or has a pecuniary interest in a facility licensed under Chapter | ||
245, Health Safety Code; | ||
(iii) is authorized under a contract with | ||
the commission to provide counseling services in accordance with | ||
this subdivision; and | ||
(B) the counselor provided the pregnant woman in | ||
accordance with commission rules: | ||
(i) medically accurate information using | ||
the informational materials described by Section 171.014; | ||
(ii) an assessment of and offer of | ||
assistance in obtaining support services other than abortion that | ||
the pregnant woman may need or be eligible for, including housing, | ||
employment, resume development, child care, medical care, adoption | ||
services, and health benefit plan coverage; | ||
(iii) education on available state and | ||
local resources to address the pregnant woman's socioeconomic | ||
needs; | ||
(iv) screening for domestic violence, | ||
coercion of abortion, or human trafficking; and | ||
(C) the counselor certified using a unique | ||
identifying number, devoid of personally identifying information | ||
of the pregnant woman, that the pregnant woman completed the | ||
counseling. | ||
(D) the counselor reported to the commission | ||
de-identified demographic information to assist the commission in | ||
determining the supply and demand of social services in the | ||
pregnant woman's geographic region. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 171.0121, Health and Safety Code, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 171.0121. MEDICAL RECORD. (a) Before the abortion | ||
begins, a copy of the signed, written certification received by the | ||
physician under Section 171.012(a)(6) and documentation of the | ||
completed counseling required under Section 171.012(a)(8) must be | ||
placed in the pregnant woman's medical records. | ||
(b) A copy of the signed, written certification required | ||
under Sections 171.012(a)(5) and (6), and documentation of the | ||
completed counseling required under Section 171.012(a)(8) shall be | ||
retained by the facility where the abortion is performed until: | ||
(1) the seventh anniversary of the date it is signed; | ||
or | ||
(2) if the pregnant woman is a minor, the later of: | ||
(A) the seventh anniversary of the date it is | ||
signed; or | ||
(B) the woman's 21st birthday. | ||
SECTION 3. (a) Notwithstanding Sections 171.012 and | ||
171.0121, Health and Safety Code, as amended by this Act, a | ||
physician is not required to comply with the changes in law made by | ||
this Act before March 1, 2020. | ||
(b) Not later than December 1, 2020, the executive | ||
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall | ||
adopt rules as necessary to implement this Act. | ||
(c) Not later than March 1, 2020, the Health and Human | ||
Services Commission shall contract with one or more counseling | ||
providers throughout the state to provide the services described by | ||
Section 171.012, Health and Safety Code, as amended by this Act. | ||
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to | ||
an abortion performed on or after March 1, 2020. An abortion | ||
performed before March 1, 2020, is governed by the law applicable to | ||
the abortion immediately before the effective date of this Act, and | ||
that law is continued in effect for that purpose. | ||
Section 5. It is the intent of the legislature that every | ||
provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word | ||
in this Act, and every application of the provisions in this Act to | ||
each person or entity, are severable from each other. If any | ||
application of any provision in this Act to any person, group of | ||
persons, or circumstances is found by a court to be invalid for any | ||
reason, the remaining applications of that provision to all other | ||
persons and circumstances shall be severed and may not be affected. | ||
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |