Bill Text: TX HB210 | 2021 | 87th Legislature 1st Special Session | Introduced

Texas House Bill 210 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Relating to protection of persons from participation in a health care service for reasons of conscience; providing a civil remedy; authorizing disciplinary action.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 15)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-07-09 - Filed [HB210 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HB210-Introduced.html

	87S10197 SRA-D

	By: Oliverson	H.B. No. 210



	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to protection of persons from participation in a health
	care service for reasons of conscience; providing a civil remedy;
	authorizing disciplinary action.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1. The legislature finds that:
	(1) the public policy of this state is to respect the
	conscience of all health care providers and the right of each health
	care provider to hold their own belief about whether certain health
	care services are morally acceptable;
	(2) without comprehensive protections, the conscience
	of health care providers may be violated; and
	(3) each health care provider must be protected from
	required participation in a health care service in which the
	provider has declined participation for reasons of conscience and
	from discriminatory adverse action resulting from the
	nonparticipation.
	SECTION 2. Chapter 161, Health and Safety Code, is amended
	by adding Subchapter X to read as follows:
	SUBCHAPTER X. TEXAS HEALTH CARE CONSCIENCE PROTECTION ACT
	Sec. 161.701. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
	(1) "Conscience" means a sincerely held set of moral
	convictions arising from:
	(A) a belief in and relation to God;
	(B) a religious faith or spiritual practice; or
	(C) a moral philosophy or ethical position,
	without regard to whether the philosophy or position is related to a
	religious faith.
	(2) "Emergency care" means bona fide emergency
	services provided after a sudden onset of a medical or traumatic
	condition manifested by acute symptoms of sufficient severity,
	including severe pain, such that the absence of immediate medical
	attention could reasonably be expected to:
	(A) place the patient's health in serious
	jeopardy;
	(B) result in serious impairment to the patient's
	bodily functions; or
	(C) result in serious dysfunction of any bodily
	organ or part of the patient.
	(3) "Health care facility" means a public or private
	organization, corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship,
	association, agency, network, joint venture, or other entity that
	provides health care services to patients. The term includes a
	hospital, clinic, medical center, ambulatory surgical center,
	private physician's office, pharmacy, nursing home, laboratory or
	diagnostic facility, infirmary, dispensary, medical school,
	nursing school, pharmacy school, or medical training facility.
	(4) "Health care provider" means a nurse, nurse aide,
	medical assistant, hospital employee, allied health professional,
	laboratory technician, clinic employee, nursing home employee,
	pharmacist, pharmacy employee, researcher, medical, pharmacy, or
	nursing school student, professional, paraprofessional, or,
	without regard to whether the person holds a license, any other
	person who furnishes or assists in the furnishing of a health care
	service.
	(5) "Health care service" means any phase of patient
	health care or treatment. The term includes:
	(A) examination, testing, diagnosis, referral,
	prognosis, dispensing or administering a drug or device, ancillary
	research, instruction, therapy, treatment, and preparing for or
	performing a surgery or procedure;
	(B) family planning, counseling, and referrals,
	and any other advice in connection with the use or procurement of
	contraceptives, sterilization, or abortion; and
	(C) record-making procedures, preparation of
	treatment notes, and any other care or treatment rendered by a
	health care facility, physician, or health care provider.
	(6) "Physician" means an individual licensed to
	practice medicine in this state.
	Sec. 161.702. RIGHT TO DECLINE PARTICIPATION IN HEALTH CARE
	SERVICE FOR REASONS OF CONSCIENCE; CONSTRUCTION OF SUBCHAPTER. (a)
	Except as provided by Subsection (b), a person may decline to
	participate in a health care service for reasons of conscience.
	(b) A person may not decline to participate in the following
	services:
	(1) emergency care; or
	(2) except as provided by Chapter 166, life-sustaining
	treatment.
	(c) Nothing in this subchapter may be construed to:
	(1) supersede Chapter 166 governing the provision,
	withholding, or withdrawing of life-sustaining treatment; or
	(2) apply to emergency care, life-sustaining
	treatment, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
	(d) An exercise of the right of conscience under this
	section is limited to a person's right to refuse to participate in a
	specific health care service.
	Sec. 161.703. IMMUNITY OF PHYSICIANS AND HEALTH CARE
	PROVIDERS. A physician or health care provider may not be held
	civilly or criminally liable because the physician or health care
	provider declines to participate in a health care service wholly or
	partly for reasons of conscience.
	Sec. 161.704. ADVERSE ACTION. A person, including a public
	official and a medical school or other institution that conducts
	education or training programs for physicians or health care
	providers, violates this subchapter by taking an adverse action
	against another person because the other person declines to
	participate in a health care service for reasons of conscience.
	Violations include discrimination against or taking an adverse
	action with regard to:
	(1) licensure;
	(2) certification;
	(3) employment terms, benefits, seniority status,
	promotion, or transfer;
	(4) staff appointments or other privileges;
	(5) denial of employment, admission, or participation
	in a program for which the other person is eligible;
	(6) reference to reasons of conscience in an
	application form;
	(7) questions regarding an applicant's participation
	in providing a health care service for reasons of conscience;
	(8) imposition of a burden in the terms or conditions
	of employment;
	(9) denial of aid, assistance, or benefits;
	(10) conditional receipt of the aid, assistance, or
	benefits; or
	(11) coercion or disqualification of the other person
	receiving aid, assistance, or benefits.
	Sec. 161.705. PROTOCOL FOR DECLINING PARTICIPATION IN
	PROVISION OF HEALTH CARE SERVICE. (a) A health care facility shall
	develop a written protocol for circumstances in which a person
	declines to participate in providing a health care service, other
	than emergency care or life-sustaining treatment, for reasons of
	conscience. The protocol must describe a patient's access to health
	care services and information to ensure the patient is not
	permanently or substantially prevented from obtaining the
	services. The protocol must explain the process the facility will
	implement to facilitate in a timely manner the patient's access to
	the services.
	(b) A person who declines to participate in providing a
	health care service for reasons of conscience shall:
	(1) notify the health care facility of the
	declination; and
	(2) comply with the applicable protocol developed
	under this section.
	(c) A protocol developed under this section may not require
	a health care facility, physician, or health care provider to
	counsel a patient or refer the patient to another physician or
	facility regarding a health care service that is contrary to the
	conscience of the physician or health care provider.
	Sec. 161.706. DISCIPLINARY ACTION; COMPLAINT. (a) A
	health care facility, physician, or health care provider that holds
	a license issued by a licensing agency in this state is subject to
	review and disciplinary action by the licensing agency for a
	violation of this subchapter as if the facility, physician, or
	provider violated the applicable licensing law.
	(b) A person who is injured by a violation of this
	subchapter may file a complaint with the licensing agency that
	issued a license to the health care facility, physician, or health
	care provider that allegedly violated this subchapter.
	(c) A physician or health care provider may not file a
	complaint with the appropriate licensing agency under this section
	unless the physician or health care provider complies with the
	health care facility's protocol developed under Section 161.705.
	Sec. 161.707. CIVIL REMEDIES. A person who is injured by a
	violation of this subchapter may bring a civil action against a
	person who violates this subchapter. A person who brings the action
	under this section may obtain:
	(1) injunctive relief;
	(2) damages incurred by the person, including:
	(A) actual damages for all psychological,
	emotional, and physical injuries resulting from the violation of
	this subchapter;
	(B) court costs; and
	(C) reasonable attorney's fees; or
	(3) both injunctive relief and damages.
	SECTION 3. Not later than March 1, 2022, a health care
	facility, as that term is defined by Section 161.701, Health and
	Safety Code, as added by this Act, shall adopt protocols required by
	Section 161.705, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act.
	SECTION 4. Section 161.703, Health and Safety Code, as
	added by this Act, applies only to a cause of action that accrues on
	or after the effective date of this Act.
	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect January 1, 2022.