Bill Text: TX HB612 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to voluntary and informed consent to an abortion and prevention of coerced abortions; providing penalties; creating an offense.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 7-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-22 - Referred to State Affairs [HB612 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HB612-Introduced.html
85R3336 SCL-F | ||
By: Leach | H.B. No. 612 |
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relating to voluntary and informed consent to an abortion and | ||
prevention of coerced abortions; providing penalties; creating an | ||
offense. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Chapter 6, Code of Criminal Procedure, is | ||
amended by adding Article 6.11 to read as follows: | ||
Art. 6.11. REPORTS OF COERCION OF ABORTION. (a) A peace | ||
officer who receives a report of or other information alleging the | ||
commission or attempted commission of an offense under Section | ||
25.12, Penal Code, shall file a police report as necessary to ensure | ||
that law enforcement may investigate the alleged offense. | ||
(b) A peace officer receiving a report or other information | ||
indicating that a person has coerced or forced or attempted to | ||
coerce or force a pregnant minor to have or seek an abortion shall | ||
notify the Department of Family and Protective Services. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 33.002, Family Code, is amended by | ||
adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows: | ||
(a-1) A physician giving notice under Subsection (a)(1) | ||
shall inform the minor's parent, managing conservator, or guardian | ||
that any person, including the minor's parent, conservator, or | ||
guardian, who coerces or forces the minor to have or seek an | ||
abortion commits an act defined as child abuse under Texas law. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 261.001(1), Family Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(1) "Abuse" includes the following acts or omissions | ||
by a person: | ||
(A) mental or emotional injury to a child that | ||
results in an observable and material impairment in the child's | ||
growth, development, or psychological functioning; | ||
(B) causing or permitting the child to be in a | ||
situation in which the child sustains a mental or emotional injury | ||
that results in an observable and material impairment in the | ||
child's growth, development, or psychological functioning; | ||
(C) physical injury that results in substantial | ||
harm to the child, or the genuine threat of substantial harm from | ||
physical injury to the child, including an injury that is at | ||
variance with the history or explanation given and excluding an | ||
accident or reasonable discipline by a parent, guardian, or | ||
managing or possessory conservator that does not expose the child | ||
to a substantial risk of harm; | ||
(D) failure to make a reasonable effort to | ||
prevent an action by another person that results in physical injury | ||
that results in substantial harm to the child; | ||
(E) sexual conduct harmful to a child's mental, | ||
emotional, or physical welfare, including conduct that constitutes | ||
the offense of continuous sexual abuse of young child or children | ||
under Section 21.02, Penal Code, indecency with a child under | ||
Section 21.11, Penal Code, sexual assault under Section 22.011, | ||
Penal Code, or aggravated sexual assault under Section 22.021, | ||
Penal Code; | ||
(F) failure to make a reasonable effort to | ||
prevent sexual conduct harmful to a child; | ||
(G) compelling or encouraging the child to engage | ||
in sexual conduct as defined by Section 43.01, Penal Code, | ||
including compelling or encouraging the child in a manner that | ||
constitutes an offense of trafficking of persons under Section | ||
20A.02(a)(7) or (8), Penal Code, prostitution under Section | ||
43.02(b), Penal Code, or compelling prostitution under Section | ||
43.05(a)(2), Penal Code; | ||
(H) causing, permitting, encouraging, engaging | ||
in, or allowing the photographing, filming, or depicting of the | ||
child if the person knew or should have known that the resulting | ||
photograph, film, or depiction of the child is obscene as defined by | ||
Section 43.21, Penal Code, or pornographic; | ||
(I) the current use by a person of a controlled | ||
substance as defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, in a | ||
manner or to the extent that the use results in physical, mental, or | ||
emotional injury to a child; | ||
(J) causing, expressly permitting, or | ||
encouraging a child to use a controlled substance as defined by | ||
Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code; | ||
(K) causing, permitting, encouraging, engaging | ||
in, or allowing a sexual performance by a child as defined by | ||
Section 43.25, Penal Code; [ |
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(L) knowingly causing, permitting, encouraging, | ||
engaging in, or allowing a child to be trafficked in a manner | ||
punishable as an offense under Section 20A.02(a)(5), (6), (7), or | ||
(8), Penal Code, or the failure to make a reasonable effort to | ||
prevent a child from being trafficked in a manner punishable as an | ||
offense under any of those sections; or | ||
(M) coercing or forcing a child to have or seek an | ||
abortion. | ||
SECTION 4. The heading to Subchapter B, Chapter 171, Health | ||
and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows: | ||
SUBCHAPTER B. VOLUNTARY AND INFORMED CONSENT | ||
SECTION 5. Section 171.015, Health and Safety Code, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 171.015. INFORMATION RELATING TO PUBLIC AND PRIVATE | ||
AGENCIES. The informational materials must include: | ||
(1) geographically indexed materials designed to | ||
inform the pregnant woman of public and private agencies and | ||
services that: | ||
(A) are available to assist a woman through | ||
pregnancy, childbirth, and the child's dependency, including: | ||
(i) a comprehensive list of adoption | ||
agencies; | ||
(ii) a description of the services the | ||
adoption agencies offer; | ||
(iii) a description of the manner, | ||
including telephone numbers, in which an adoption agency may be | ||
contacted; [ |
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(iv) a comprehensive list of agencies and | ||
organizations that offer sonogram services at no cost to the | ||
pregnant woman; | ||
(v) pregnancy resource centers and | ||
maternity homes; | ||
(vi) a comprehensive list of assistance | ||
programs for victims of family violence and human trafficking; | ||
(vii) the telephone number and Internet | ||
website of the National Human Trafficking Resource Center; | ||
(viii) a list of persons licensed to | ||
practice in this state as social workers, licensed professional | ||
counselors, licensed marriage and family therapists, and | ||
psychologists who have volunteered to assist women being coerced or | ||
forced to have or seek an abortion or volunteered to provide | ||
services for human trafficking rescue and restoration; and | ||
(ix) nonprofit organizations that provide | ||
free legal aid to women being coerced or forced to have or seek an | ||
abortion or to victims of human trafficking; | ||
(B) do not provide abortions or abortion-related | ||
services or make referrals to abortion providers; and | ||
(C) are not affiliated with organizations that | ||
provide abortions or abortion-related services or make referrals to | ||
abortion providers; and | ||
(2) a toll-free, 24-hour telephone number that may be | ||
called to obtain an oral list and description of agencies described | ||
by Subdivision (1) that are located near the caller and of the | ||
services the agencies offer. | ||
SECTION 6. Subchapter B, Chapter 171, Health and Safety | ||
Code, is amended by adding Sections 171.019, 171.020, 171.021, | ||
171.022, and 171.023 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 171.019. PREVENTION OF COERCED ABORTIONS. (a) Before | ||
any anesthesia or sedative is given to a woman and before an | ||
abortion is performed on the woman, a physician shall: | ||
(1) verbally inform the woman that: | ||
(A) a person cannot coerce or force her to have or | ||
seek an abortion; and | ||
(B) the physician cannot perform the abortion | ||
unless the woman provides her voluntary and informed consent; and | ||
(2) provide the woman with the coerced abortion form | ||
described by Section 171.021: | ||
(A) in both English and Spanish; and | ||
(B) in a language other than English or Spanish | ||
if required under Section 171.021(c). | ||
(b) A physician may not perform an abortion on a woman | ||
unless, before the abortion, the woman certifies on the coerced | ||
abortion form described by Section 171.021 that she received from | ||
the physician the information and materials required by Subsection | ||
(a). | ||
(c) If the woman indicates on the coerced abortion form or | ||
on a form consenting to the procedure or at any time before the | ||
abortion communicates verbally to the physician or the physician's | ||
agent that she is being coerced or forced to have or seek an | ||
abortion or is a victim of human trafficking or the physician is | ||
otherwise made aware that the woman has indicated she is being | ||
coerced or forced to have or seek an abortion or is a victim of human | ||
trafficking, the physician: | ||
(1) shall report an offense under Section 25.12, Penal | ||
Code, to local law enforcement and: | ||
(A) if the woman is a minor, make a report to the | ||
Department of Family and Protective Services; and | ||
(B) if the woman indicates that she is a victim of | ||
human trafficking, report an offense under Section 20A.02, Penal | ||
Code, to local law enforcement; | ||
(2) shall provide the information described by Section | ||
171.015; | ||
(3) shall provide the woman with access to a telephone | ||
in a private room; and | ||
(4) may not perform the abortion until: | ||
(A) if the woman indicated she was being coerced | ||
or forced to have or seek an abortion, 72 hours have elapsed: | ||
(i) since the woman last communicated to | ||
the physician, through the form or otherwise, that the woman was | ||
being coerced or forced to have or seek an abortion; or | ||
(ii) to the best of the physician's | ||
knowledge, since the woman last communicated to an agent of the | ||
physician or law enforcement that the woman was being coerced or | ||
forced to have or seek an abortion; | ||
(B) the woman provides her voluntary and informed | ||
consent that the woman states is not a result of coercion; and | ||
(C) local law enforcement has completed the | ||
investigation and report required under Section 171.020 and Article | ||
6.11, Code of Criminal Procedure, and, as applicable, the | ||
Department of Family and Protective Services has completed an | ||
investigation under Subchapter D, Chapter 261, Family Code. | ||
(d) A volunteer for or an employee of a physician or an | ||
office or facility at which abortions are performed shall | ||
immediately notify the physician who is to perform an abortion on a | ||
woman if the woman communicates to the volunteer or employee that | ||
the woman is being coerced or forced to have or seek an abortion or | ||
that the woman is a victim of human trafficking. | ||
(e) The woman on whom the abortion is to be performed may | ||
withdraw consent to the abortion at any time before the performance | ||
of the abortion. | ||
Sec. 171.020. PHYSICIAN'S DUTY TO REPORT COERCION AND HUMAN | ||
TRAFFICKING; INVESTIGATION AND ASSISTANCE. (a) If a woman claims | ||
to have been coerced or forced to have or seek an abortion, the | ||
physician or physician's agent shall immediately report the | ||
suspected coercion and the name of the individual suspected of | ||
coercing the woman to the appropriate local law enforcement agency | ||
and, if the woman is a minor, to the Department of Family and | ||
Protective Services. | ||
(b) If a physician or physician's agent has reasonable | ||
suspicion that a woman is a victim of human trafficking, the | ||
physician or physician's agent shall report the suspected | ||
trafficking in the manner provided by Subsection (a). | ||
(c) The appropriate local law enforcement agency has a duty | ||
to respond and shall write a report not later than 12 hours after | ||
notification of the alleged coercion or trafficking under this | ||
section. A report must be made in response to every notification by | ||
a physician or physician's agent under this section, regardless of | ||
whether the law enforcement agency knows that a report about the | ||
coercion or trafficking was previously made. | ||
(d) Notwithstanding Sections 261.301 and 261.3015, Family | ||
Code, the Department of Family and Protective Services shall | ||
respond not later than 12 hours after notification of the alleged | ||
coercion or trafficking of a minor under this section. | ||
(e) The appropriate local law enforcement agency and the | ||
Department of Family and Protective Services shall: | ||
(1) investigate each report of suspected coercion or | ||
trafficking under this section; and | ||
(2) if warranted, refer the case to the appropriate | ||
prosecuting authority. | ||
(f) If the investigation shows that the minor's parent, | ||
conservator, or guardian is coercing or forcing or attempting to | ||
coerce or force the minor to have or seek an abortion, the | ||
Department of Family and Protective Services shall take any | ||
appropriate action under Title 5, Family Code. | ||
(g) The fact that a woman has signed a form under Section | ||
171.021 does not affect: | ||
(1) the duty of a physician or physician's agent under | ||
this section; or | ||
(2) the culpability of a person coercing or forcing a | ||
woman to have or seek an abortion. | ||
Sec. 171.021. CONTENTS OF FORM. (a) The department shall | ||
develop a coerced abortion form to be completed by each woman on | ||
whom an abortion is performed in this state. The form must include: | ||
(1) the following title centered on the page in | ||
boldfaced capital letters in 26-point font or larger: "NOTICE"; | ||
(2) the following statement printed in 16-point font | ||
or larger: "Texas law prohibits a person, regardless of that | ||
person's relationship to you (for example, your husband, parent, | ||
boyfriend, or teacher), from coercing or forcing you to have or seek | ||
an abortion. You have the right to a telephone in a private room to | ||
contact any local law enforcement agency to receive protection from | ||
any actual or threatened physical abuse or violence. Coercing or | ||
forcing a woman to have or seek an abortion is child abuse if the | ||
woman is a minor and may be punishable by up to a year in jail and up | ||
to a $4,000 fine. Human trafficking, including sex trafficking, is | ||
a violation of the law, and the state can help victims of | ||
trafficking. Texas law prohibits a physician from performing an | ||
abortion, including inducing, prescribing for, or otherwise | ||
providing the means for an abortion, unless you give your voluntary | ||
and informed consent without coercion or force. Texas law also | ||
prohibits a physician from performing an abortion against your | ||
will."; | ||
(3) the following statements printed in 14-point font | ||
or larger followed by spaces for the woman and, if the woman is a | ||
minor, the woman's parent, managing conservator, or guardian, if | ||
present, to initial: | ||
(A) "I understand that I have the right to access | ||
a telephone in a private room to contact a local law enforcement | ||
agency to receive protection from any actual or threatened physical | ||
abuse or violence."; | ||
(B) "I understand that victims of human | ||
trafficking may receive assistance and resources from this state | ||
and protection by local law enforcement."; | ||
(C) "I have been informed in person that no one | ||
can coerce or force me to have or seek an abortion and that an | ||
abortion cannot be provided to me unless I provide my freely given, | ||
voluntary, and informed consent."; | ||
(D) "I have read the above notice and understand | ||
that I have legal protection against being coerced or forced to have | ||
or seek an abortion."; | ||
(E) "I freely give my voluntary consent to this | ||
abortion without being coerced or forced."; and | ||
(F) "I am aware that Texas law defines child | ||
abuse to include a parent, conservator, or guardian who coerces or | ||
forces his or her daughter or a child under his or her care to have | ||
or seek an abortion."; | ||
(4) spaces for the signature of the woman and, if the | ||
woman is a minor, the woman's parent, managing conservator, or | ||
guardian, if present, and the date the form was completed; | ||
(5) spaces for the license number, area of specialty, | ||
and signature of the physician who performed the abortion; and | ||
(6) the telephone number for the National Domestic | ||
Violence Hotline. | ||
(b) The department shall provide the form required by | ||
Subsection (a) in both English and Spanish. | ||
(c) If the department determines that a substantial number | ||
of residents in this state speak a primary language other than | ||
English or Spanish, the department shall provide the form required | ||
by Subsection (a) in that language. The department shall instruct a | ||
facility that provides abortions to provide the coerced abortion | ||
form in a language other than English or Spanish if the department | ||
determines that a substantial number of residents in the area speak | ||
a primary language other than English or Spanish. | ||
Sec. 171.022. PROVISION AND RETENTION OF COERCED ABORTION | ||
FORM. (a) The department shall provide a copy of this section and | ||
Sections 171.019-171.021 and the coerced abortion form required by | ||
Section 171.021 to: | ||
(1) a physician who becomes newly licensed to practice | ||
in this state, not later than the 30th day after the date the | ||
physician receives the license; and | ||
(2) all physicians licensed to practice in this state, | ||
not later than December 1 of each year. | ||
(b) A copy of the coerced abortion form certified by the | ||
woman shall be placed in the woman's medical file and kept until at | ||
least the seventh anniversary of the date on which the form was | ||
signed or, if the woman is a minor, at least until the date the woman | ||
reaches 20 years of age, whichever is later. | ||
(c) The woman on whom an abortion is performed shall be | ||
given a copy of the completed coerced abortion form in person before | ||
the woman leaves the facility where the abortion is performed. | ||
Sec. 171.023. SIGN POSTING. (a) An office or facility at | ||
which abortions are performed shall post the following sign: | ||
"NOTICE: Texas law prohibits a person, regardless of that person's | ||
relationship to you (for example, your husband, parent, boyfriend, | ||
or teacher), from coercing or forcing you to have or seek an | ||
abortion. You have the right to a telephone in a private room to | ||
contact any local law enforcement agency to receive protection from | ||
any actual or threatened physical abuse or violence. Coercing or | ||
forcing a woman to have or seek an abortion is child abuse if the | ||
woman is a minor and may be punishable by up to a year in jail and up | ||
to a $4,000 fine. Human trafficking, including sex trafficking, is | ||
a violation of the law, and the state can help victims of | ||
trafficking. Texas law prohibits a physician from performing an | ||
abortion, including inducing, prescribing for, or otherwise | ||
providing the means for an abortion, unless you give your voluntary | ||
and informed consent without coercion or force. Texas law also | ||
prohibits a physician from performing an abortion against your | ||
will.". | ||
(b) The sign described by Subsection (a) must: | ||
(1) be printed with lettering that is legible and in at | ||
least two-inch boldfaced type; | ||
(2) be printed and posted in both English and Spanish, | ||
as well as any language other than English or Spanish if it is | ||
likely that a substantial number of the residents in the area speak | ||
a language other than English or Spanish as their primary language; | ||
and | ||
(3) include the telephone number for the National | ||
Domestic Violence Hotline. | ||
(c) An office or facility at which abortions are performed | ||
shall conspicuously post the sign described by Subsection (a) in | ||
each patient waiting room, each patient consultation room regularly | ||
used by patients seeking abortions, and the room in which abortions | ||
are performed or induced. | ||
(d) If requested by a patient, the office or facility shall | ||
provide the patient: | ||
(1) a paper copy of the sign described by Subsection | ||
(a) in the language preferred by the patient; and | ||
(2) access to a telephone in a private room. | ||
SECTION 7. Chapter 25, Penal Code, is amended by adding | ||
Section 25.12 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 25.12. COERCION OF ABORTION. (a) A person commits an | ||
offense if the person uses coercion to cause a pregnant woman to | ||
have or seek an abortion, unless: | ||
(1) the pregnant woman is younger than 18 years of age; | ||
and | ||
(2) the actor is the parent, conservator, or guardian | ||
of the pregnant woman. | ||
(b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor. | ||
(c) A person who in good faith reports to law enforcement | ||
authorities a suspected offense under Subsection (a) is immune from | ||
civil liability in an action brought against the person for | ||
reporting the suspected offense. | ||
SECTION 8. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective | ||
date of this Act, the Department of State Health Services shall: | ||
(1) develop and make available: | ||
(A) the coerced abortion form required by | ||
Subchapter B, Chapter 171, Health and Safety Code, as amended by | ||
this Act, along with instructions for completing the form; and | ||
(B) the sign required by Section 171.023, Health | ||
and Safety Code, as added by this Act; and | ||
(2) revise the informational materials under Section | ||
171.015, Health and Safety Code, as amended by this Act. | ||
(b) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human | ||
Services Commission may identify rules required by the passage of | ||
this Act that must be adopted on an emergency basis and may use the | ||
procedures established under Section 2001.034, Government Code, | ||
for adopting those rules. The executive commissioner is not | ||
required to make the finding described by Section 2001.034(a), | ||
Government Code, to adopt emergency rules under this subsection. | ||
(c) A physician or other person subject to the requirements | ||
of Sections 171.019, 171.020, 171.021, 171.022, and 171.023, Health | ||
and Safety Code, as added by this Act, is not required to provide, | ||
use, or retain the coerced abortion form under Section 171.019, | ||
171.021, or 171.022, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, | ||
or post the sign required under Section 171.023, Health and Safety | ||
Code, as added by this Act, before the Department of State Health | ||
Services develops and makes available the form and the sign. | ||
(d) A physician is not criminally liable under Section | ||
171.018, Health and Safety Code, for failing to provide updated | ||
informational materials under Section 171.015, Health and Safety | ||
Code, as amended by this Act, failing to provide, use, or retain the | ||
coerced abortion form under Section 171.019, 171.021, or 171.022, | ||
Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, or failing to post the | ||
sign required under Section 171.023, Health and Safety Code, as | ||
added by this Act, before the Department of State Health Services | ||
develops and makes available the revised informational materials, | ||
the form, or the sign. | ||
SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to | ||
an offense under Section 33.002, Family Code, as amended by this | ||
Act, or Section 25.12, Penal Code, as added by this Act, committed | ||
on or after September 1, 2017. An offense committed before | ||
September 1, 2017, is governed by the law in effect on the date the | ||
offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for | ||
that purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was | ||
committed before September 1, 2017, if any element of the offense | ||
occurred before that date. | ||
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect immediately if it | ||
receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each | ||
house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. | ||
If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate | ||
effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |