Bill Text: TX HB2727 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to voluntary and informed consent to an abortion.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-17 - Referred to Public Health [HB2727 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB2727-Introduced.html
87R9385 SCL-F | ||
By: Hefner | H.B. No. 2727 |
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relating to voluntary and informed consent to an abortion. | ||
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; [ |
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(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; and | ||
(D) a person commits a criminal offense if the | ||
person causes or threatens bodily injury to a pregnant woman to | ||
force the woman to have an abortion; | ||
(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 Department of | ||
State Health Services; | ||
(ii) are accessible on an Internet website | ||
sponsored by the department; | ||
(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 UNDERSTAND THAT A PERSON VIOLATES THE TEXAS | ||
PENAL CODE BY CAUSING OR THREATENING BODILY INJURY TO A PREGNANT | ||
WOMAN TO FORCE THE WOMAN TO HAVE AN ABORTION AND THAT I HAVE A RIGHT | ||
TO CONTACT ANY LOCAL OR STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO RECEIVE | ||
PROTECTION FROM ANY ACTUAL OR THREATENED PHYSICAL ABUSE OR | ||
VIOLENCE, WHICH IS CONDUCT CLASSIFIED AS AN ASSAULT UNDER THE TEXAS | ||
PENAL CODE. | ||
(8) [ |
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AND WITHOUT COERCION. | ||
(9) [ |
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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 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 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); and | ||
(7) the pregnant woman is provided the name of each | ||
person who provides or explains the information required under this | ||
subsection. | ||
SECTION 2. Sections 171.014(a) and (f), Health and Safety | ||
Code, are amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) The department shall publish informational materials | ||
that include: | ||
(1) the information required to be provided under | ||
Sections 171.012(a)(1)(B) and (D) and (a)(2)(A), (B), [ |
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and (D); and | ||
(2) the materials required by Sections 171.015 and | ||
171.016. | ||
(f) In addition to any other organization or entity, the | ||
department shall use the American College of Obstetricians and | ||
Gynecologists as the resource in developing information required to | ||
be provided under Sections 171.012(a)(1)(B) and (D), Sections | ||
171.012(a)(2)(A), (B), [ |
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in maintaining the department's Internet website. | ||
SECTION 3. (a) By not later than December 1, 2021, the | ||
Health and Human Services Commission shall: | ||
(1) revise the informational materials the commission | ||
is required to publish under Section 171.014, Health and Safety | ||
Code, as amended by this Act; and | ||
(2) make the materials available for distribution. | ||
(b) The changes in law made by this Act apply only to the | ||
information a physician is required to provide under Section | ||
171.012, Health and Safety Code, as amended by this Act, on or after | ||
January 1, 2022. | ||
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |