Bill Text: HI SCR181 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requesting Physicians And Surgeons In The State To Decline To Perform Abortions On Unborn Children Capable Of Feeling Pain And To Decline To Perform Abortions By Dismemberment, Unless Exceptional Circumstances Are Present.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-16 - Referred to HTH, JDC. [SCR181 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2021-SCR181-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	181
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS IN THE STATE TO DECLINE TO PERFORM ABORTIONS ON UNBORN CHILDREN CAPABLE OF FEELING PAIN AND TO DECLINE TO PERFORM ABORTIONS BY DISMEMBERMENT, UNLESS EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES ARE PRESENT.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, pain receptors, or nociceptors, are present throughout an unborn child's entire body, and nerves link these receptors to the brain's thalamus and subcortical plate by no later than twenty weeks after fertilization; and

 

     WHEREAS, by eight weeks after fertilization, the unborn child reacts to touch; and

 

     WHEREAS, after twenty weeks, the unborn child reacts to stimuli that would be recognized as painful if applied to an adult human, for example, by recoiling; and

 

     WHEREAS, there is substantial medical evidence that an unborn child is capable of experiencing pain twenty weeks after fertilization, if not earlier; and

 

     WHEREAS, there is a compelling governmental interest in protecting the lives of unborn children that reach the stage of development at which substantial medical evidence indicates they are capable of feeling pain; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, the House of Representatives concurring, that all licensed physicians and surgeons, including licensed osteopathic physicians and surgeons, in this State are requested:

 

     (1)  Before performing or attempting an abortion:

 

          (A)  To first determine the probable post-fertilization age of the unborn child or reasonably rely upon a determination made by another physician or surgeon; and

 

          (B)  In making the foregoing determination, to make inquiries of the pregnant woman and perform or cause to be performed medical examinations and tests that a reasonably prudent physician or surgeon, knowledgeable about the case and the medical conditions involved, would consider necessary to make an accurate determination of post-fertilization age;

 

     (2)  If the probable post-fertilization age of the unborn child is at least twenty weeks, to consider the unborn child as capable of feeling pain; and

 

     (3)  To decline to perform the abortion of any unborn child that is capable of feeling pain, unless one or more exceptional circumstances are present; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the exceptional circumstances referenced in the foregoing clause include the following:

 

     (1)  In the physician or surgeon's reasonable medical judgment, an abortion is necessary to save the life of a pregnant woman whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself, but not including psychological or emotional conditions;

 

     (2)  The pregnancy is the result of rape against an adult woman who, at least forty-eight hours before the abortion, has obtained counseling for the rape or medical treatment for the rape or for an injury related to the rape, other than counseling or medical treatment provided by a facility that performs abortions; provided that, before the abortion, the physician or surgeon places in the patient's medical file documentation from a:

 

          (A)  Hospital licensed by the State or operated under authority of a federal agency;

 

          (B)  Medical clinic licensed by the State or operated under authority of a federal agency;

 

          (C)  Personal physician licensed by the State;

 

          (D)  Counselor licensed by the State; or

 

          (E)  Victim's rights advocate provided by a law enforcement agency,

 

          that the adult woman seeking the abortion obtained medical treatment or counseling for the rape or for an injury related to the rape;

 

     (3)  The pregnancy is the result of rape against an adult woman and the rape has been reported at any time before the abortion to a law enforcement agency; provided that, before the abortion, the physician or surgeon places in the patient's medical file documentation from the law enforcement agency to which the rape was reported; or

 

     (4)  The pregnancy is a result of rape against a minor or incest against a minor, and the rape or incest has been reported at any time before the abortion to any law enforcement agency or government agency authorized to act on reports of child abuse; provided that, before the abortion, the physician or surgeon places in the patient's medical file documentation from the government agency or law enforcement agency to which the rape or incest of the minor was reported; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a physician or surgeon terminating or attempting to terminate a pregnancy under one or more of the exceptional circumstances described above is requested:

     (1)  Before commencing the abortion procedure, to provide the woman seeking the abortion a disclosure form that:

 

          (A)  Indicates the probable post-fertilization age of the unborn child;

 

          (B)  States that, due to the unborn child's stage of development at that post-fertilization age, the child may be capable of experiencing pain;

 

          (C)  Requires the woman seeking the abortion to indicate by her signature whether or not she understands the form; and

 

          (D)  Requires the physician or surgeon performing the abortion and a second witness to sign the form;

 

     (2)  To decline to commence the abortion if the woman seeking the abortion does not understand the contents of the foregoing disclosure form, unless in the physician or surgeon's reasonable medical judgment, declining to perform the abortion would pose a greater risk of:

 

          (A)  The death of the pregnant woman; or

 

          (B)  The substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function, not including psychological or emotional conditions, of the pregnant woman;

 

     (3)  To perform the abortion in a manner that, in the physician or surgeon's reasonable medical judgment, provides the best opportunity for the unborn child to survive, unless the circumstances in the foregoing paragraph are present;

 

     (4)  To sedate or abort the unborn child before any dismemberment of the child's body is made; and

 

     (5)  To submit to the Department of Health not later than sixty days after the end of each calendar year an annual summary, without personally identifiable patient information, of the number of abortions performed or attempted by the physician or surgeon within the previous calendar year on an unborn child who had a post-fertilization age of twenty weeks or more; provided that each annual summary is requested to include:

 

          (A)  The probable post-fertilization age of the unborn child;

 

          (B)  The method used to carry out the abortion;

 

          (C)  The location where the abortion was conducted;

 

          (D)  The exceptional circumstance under which the abortion was conducted; and

 

          (E)  Any incident of live birth that occurred in spite of an attempted abortion; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to submit to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each Regular Session a publicly-available annual report with statistics compiled from all of the foregoing annual summaries made to the Department; provided that the report does not include any information that could reasonably lead to the identification of any pregnant woman upon whom an abortion was performed or attempted; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all licensed physicians and surgeons, including licensed osteopathic physicians and surgeons, in the State are requested to decline to perform any abortion by dismemberment of an unborn child unless the dismemberment is necessary to save the life of a pregnant woman whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself, but not including psychological or emotional conditions; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health and Chairperson of the Hawaii Medical Board, the latter of whom is requested to transmit copies of this measure to each physician, surgeon, osteopathic physician, and osteopathic surgeon who is licensed to practice in this State pursuant to Chapter 453, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Abortion; Health; Pain; Unborn Child; Physicians; Surgeons