Bill Text: TX HB4089 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the Texas Alternatives to Abortion Program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 31-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-20 - Referred to Human Services [HB4089 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB4089-Introduced.html
88R13647 MPF-F | ||
By: Oliverson | H.B. No. 4089 |
|
||
|
||
relating to the Texas Alternatives to Abortion Program. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 2, Health and Safety Code, is | ||
amended by adding Chapter 54 to read as follows: | ||
CHAPTER 54. TEXAS ALTERNATIVES TO ABORTION PROGRAM | ||
Sec. 54.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: | ||
(1) "Client" means a woman or man who is eligible to | ||
receive program services under Section 54.004. | ||
(2) "Pregnancy support services" means nonmedical | ||
services that promote childbirth instead of abortion by providing | ||
information, counseling, and support services to assist pregnant | ||
women or women who believe they may be pregnant in choosing | ||
childbirth and making informed decisions regarding the choice of | ||
adoption or parenting with respect to their children. | ||
(3) "Program" means the Texas Alternatives to Abortion | ||
Program established by the commission to enhance and increase | ||
resources that promote childbirth for women facing unplanned | ||
pregnancy. | ||
Sec. 54.002. ADMINISTRATION; PURPOSE. (a) The commission | ||
shall oversee the Texas Alternatives to Abortion Program as a | ||
statewide social service program to promote healthy pregnancies, | ||
childbirth, parenting, and adoption through nonprofit contractors | ||
that provide pregnancy support services. | ||
(b) The program is funded through: | ||
(1) legislative appropriations; and | ||
(2) the unobligated and unexpended balance in the | ||
Texas Pregnancy and Adoption Program as of August 31, 2024. | ||
(c) The purposes of the program are to: | ||
(1) provide a local approach and personalized support | ||
to pregnant women to promote childbirth in all instances of | ||
pregnancy; | ||
(2) provide and promote healthy pregnancies; | ||
(3) educate biological parents about healthy | ||
parenting and adoption; | ||
(4) improve the pregnancy, parenting, and adoption | ||
situations of biological parents; and | ||
(5) assist adoptive parents and potential adoptive | ||
parents with support for and education about adoption and | ||
parenting. | ||
Sec. 54.003. PROGRAM SERVICES, MATERIALS, AND MARKETING. | ||
The program shall provide, either directly or through a | ||
subcontractor, services and materials that improve pregnancy or | ||
parenting experiences, including: | ||
(1) the provision of counseling, mentoring, | ||
educational materials, and classes regarding pregnancy, parenting, | ||
adoption, life skills, and employment readiness; | ||
(2) the provision of nonmedical material assistance, | ||
including maternity clothing, formula, and diapers; and | ||
(3) marketing services to educate the public about the | ||
availability of program services, including the use of social media | ||
marketing, internet marketing, outdoor billboard marketing, | ||
television marketing, and radio marketing. | ||
Sec. 54.004. PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY. (a) A woman or man is | ||
eligible to receive program services under this chapter if the | ||
woman or man: | ||
(1) is in this state at the time program services are | ||
provided; and | ||
(2) is either: | ||
(A) the biological parent of a child of less than | ||
three years of age, including an unborn child, and who: | ||
(i) has parental rights to the child; | ||
(ii) voluntarily relinquished parental | ||
rights to the child, provided the rights were relinquished not more | ||
than 180 days before the date program services are provided; or | ||
(iii) has experienced the death of the | ||
child, including in utero, not more than 180 days before the date | ||
the program services are provided; or | ||
(B) planning in the next 12 months to adopt or has | ||
adopted a child of less than three years of age. | ||
(b) The commission may not impose eligibility requirements | ||
based on citizenship, residency, or income. | ||
Sec. 54.005. CONTRACTOR AND CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS. (a) | ||
The commission shall enter into contracts with program contractors | ||
that: | ||
(1) are able to provide the program services and | ||
materials to clients and their family members; | ||
(2) are exempt from federal income taxation; and | ||
(3) have provided contracted services under the | ||
program for the commission for at least two years. | ||
(b) A contract entered into under this chapter must cover a | ||
two-year period beginning September 1 of an odd-numbered year | ||
through August 31 of the next odd-numbered year. | ||
(c) The amount of a contract must be in proportion to the | ||
amount of program services and materials provided by the program | ||
contractor. | ||
(d) The commission may not impose other requirements on | ||
program contractors and subcontractors except those prescribed by | ||
this chapter and in the uniform terms imposed by the commission for | ||
commission grants. | ||
Sec. 54.006. PROVISION OF PROGRAM SERVICES AND MATERIALS BY | ||
CONTRACTORS OR SUBCONTRACTORS. (a) A program contractor may | ||
provide program services and materials directly or through a | ||
contract with a subcontractor. | ||
(b) To provide services and materials under the program, a | ||
contractor and subcontractor must: | ||
(1) provide program training for: | ||
(A) all new employees and volunteers and ensure | ||
that all new employees and volunteers read the contractor's | ||
compliance manual and complete training before providing program | ||
services to clients; and | ||
(B) all existing employees and volunteers at | ||
least once per year; | ||
(2) ensure all client educational materials are | ||
current and reference citations to peer-reviewed journals, to | ||
mainstream medical organizations such as the American Academy of | ||
Pediatrics or the American Medical Association, or to federal or | ||
state agencies such as the National Institutes of Health or the | ||
commission; | ||
(3) ensure the most recent version of the | ||
informational materials described by Section 171.014 is present to | ||
educate pregnant clients about their options; | ||
(4) ensure each client is provided an optional survey | ||
or other method to provide comments about the services the client | ||
received; | ||
(5) promote childbirth rather than abortion in its | ||
response to a pregnancy and agree that a contractor or | ||
subcontractor will not promote, make referrals, or provide | ||
abortions to women and men, regardless of whether they are clients; | ||
(6) adopt privacy and security policies; | ||
(7) be a legally separate entity from any abortion | ||
services provider and not have entered into a legal or monetary | ||
relationship with an abortion services provider; | ||
(8) adopt a policy to maintain documents sufficient to | ||
ensure the accuracy and validity of the contractor's or | ||
subcontractor's invoices until the seventh anniversary of the date | ||
the program services and materials are provided; | ||
(9) use the necessary administrative, technical, and | ||
physical safeguards to protect the security of confidential | ||
information; and | ||
(10) provide program services to clients free of | ||
charge and without regard to a client's income, citizenship, or | ||
residency. | ||
(c) To provide services and materials under the program, a | ||
contractor or subcontractor may not: | ||
(1) share any employees or members of its governing | ||
body with an abortion services provider or affiliate; | ||
(2) display or use the names or trademarks of an | ||
abortion services provider in describing or naming the contractor | ||
or subcontractor; | ||
(3) use graphic images or graphic descriptions of | ||
abortion procedures in its services and materials, regardless of | ||
whether the contractor or subcontractor is providing services to | ||
clients; | ||
(4) use or distribute to women and men, regardless of | ||
whether the woman or man is a client, any educational materials that | ||
promote or provide referrals for abortions; or | ||
(5) provide family planning services. | ||
Sec. 54.007. OVERSIGHT OF CONTRACTORS AND SUBCONTRACTORS. | ||
(a) One full-time commission employee shall oversee program | ||
contractors and ensure compliance with commission contracting | ||
procedures and all other relevant laws and policies. | ||
(b) A program contractor is responsible for monitoring each | ||
of the contractor's subcontractors annually to ensure compliance | ||
with this chapter. | ||
Sec. 54.008. ANNUAL REPORT. Not later than December 1 of | ||
each year, the commission shall submit a written report to the | ||
Legislative Budget Board and the governor on: | ||
(1) the total amount of services and materials | ||
provided by each program contractor, either directly or through | ||
subcontractors, by geographical region; | ||
(2) the total number of program contractors, including | ||
subcontractors, by geographical region; | ||
(3) the total number of unduplicated clients served by | ||
each contractor, by gender and age; | ||
(4) a description of program marketing efforts by | ||
program contractors; | ||
(5) the total amount of program expenses, sorted by | ||
method of funding; | ||
(6) the total contract amount for each program | ||
contractor and subcontractor; | ||
(7) the percentage of pregnant clients who were | ||
connected to health care providers or programs; | ||
(8) the percentage of pregnant clients who were | ||
provided education about nutrition or nutritional distributions; | ||
and | ||
(9) the percentage of all clients who were provided | ||
education about family economic self-sufficiency and stability. | ||
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |