Bill Text: TX SB13 | 2023 | 88th Legislature 3rd Special Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to informed consent before provision of certain medical treatments and exemptions from COVID-19 vaccination requirements.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-10-06 - Filed [SB13 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SB13-Introduced.html
| By: Middleton | S.B. No. 13 | |
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| relating to informed consent before provision of certain medical | ||
| treatments and exemptions from COVID-19 vaccination requirements. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as the Texas COVID-19 | ||
| Vaccine Freedom Act. | ||
| SECTION 2. The legislature finds that: | ||
| (1) this state is responsible for ensuring that | ||
| individuals lawfully residing in this state have the right to | ||
| provide or withhold consent for any medical treatment; | ||
| (2) the decision in Canterbury v. Spence, 464 F.2d 772 | ||
| (D.C. Cir. 1972), establishing the concept of informed consent, has | ||
| become a bedrock principle of the laws of this country and of each | ||
| state; | ||
| (3) the American Medical Association's Code of Medical | ||
| Ethics Opinion 2.1.1 recognizes the right of an individual to be | ||
| fully informed of a recommended medical treatment to allow the | ||
| individual to make an informed decision regarding the individual's | ||
| course of treatment, including whether to obtain or decline a | ||
| particular medical treatment; | ||
| (4) under 42 C.F.R. Section 482.13, a hospital is | ||
| required as a condition of participation in Medicare to have in | ||
| place a process for obtaining the informed consent of a patient | ||
| before providing treatment to the patient and to ensure "[ |
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| patient or his or her representative (as allowed under State law) | ||
| has the right to make informed decisions regarding his or her care"; | ||
| (5) the United States Supreme Court upheld mandatory | ||
| vaccination policies imposed by state and local governments to | ||
| combat smallpox in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905), | ||
| and acknowledged in Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins, 447 U.S. | ||
| 74, 81 (1980), that a state may provide "individual liberties more | ||
| expansive than those conferred by the Federal Constitution"; | ||
| (6) persons inside and outside this state have sought | ||
| or are seeking to compel or coerce individuals lawfully residing in | ||
| this state into obtaining a COVID-19 vaccine contrary to the | ||
| individuals' preferences; | ||
| (7) any attempt to compel or coerce an individual | ||
| lawfully residing in this state into obtaining a COVID-19 vaccine | ||
| contrary to the individual's preference is inconsistent with the | ||
| principles of informed consent; and | ||
| (8) Section 161.0086, Health and Safety Code, as added | ||
| by this Act, prohibits any person from compelling or coercing an | ||
| individual lawfully residing in this state into obtaining medical | ||
| treatments involving the administration of a COVID-19 vaccine. | ||
| SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 161, Health and Safety | ||
| Code, is amended by adding Section 161.0086 to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 161.0086. INFORMED CONSENT AND MEDICAL TREATMENT | ||
| EXEMPTIONS FOR COVID-19 VACCINATION. (a) In this section: | ||
| (1) "COVID-19" means the 2019 novel coronavirus | ||
| disease. | ||
| (2) "Health care facility" means a facility that is a | ||
| provider of services, as defined by Section 1861, Social Security | ||
| Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1395x). | ||
| (3) "Health care provider" means an individual | ||
| licensed or otherwise authorized by this state to administer | ||
| vaccines. | ||
| (b) A person may not compel or coerce an individual lawfully | ||
| residing in this state into obtaining a medical treatment involving | ||
| the administration of a COVID-19 vaccine, including a COVID-19 | ||
| vaccine approved or authorized by the United States Food and Drug | ||
| Administration, contrary to the individual's vaccination | ||
| preference. | ||
| (c) A health care provider may not provide to an individual | ||
| lawfully residing in this state a medical treatment involving the | ||
| administration of a COVID-19 vaccine, including a COVID-19 vaccine | ||
| approved or authorized by the United States Food and Drug | ||
| Administration, unless the provider obtains the individual's | ||
| informed consent before administering the COVID-19 vaccine. | ||
| (d) For purposes of this section: | ||
| (1) an individual lacks the capacity to provide | ||
| informed consent for a medical treatment involving the | ||
| administration of a COVID-19 vaccine if the individual has been | ||
| compelled or coerced into obtaining a COVID-19 vaccine contrary to | ||
| the individual's vaccination preference; and | ||
| (2) a health care provider who advises or recommends | ||
| the administration of a COVID-19 vaccine is not considered to have | ||
| compelled or coerced an individual into obtaining a COVID-19 | ||
| vaccine based solely on that advice or recommendation. | ||
| (e) A person may not take an adverse action or impose a | ||
| penalty of any kind against an individual lawfully residing in this | ||
| state for the individual's refusal or failure to obtain a medical | ||
| treatment involving the administration of a COVID-19 vaccine. | ||
| (f) The attorney general may bring an action for injunctive | ||
| relief against a person to prevent the person from violating this | ||
| section. In an injunction issued under this subsection, a court may | ||
| include reasonable requirements to prevent further violations of | ||
| this section. | ||
| (g) A health care provider who violates Subsection (c) is | ||
| liable to the individual who is the subject of the violation for | ||
| damages in an amount of not less than $5,000. The prevailing party | ||
| in an action brought under this subsection may recover reasonable | ||
| expenses incurred as a result of the action, including court costs, | ||
| reasonable attorney's fees, investigation costs, witness fees, and | ||
| deposition expenses. | ||
| (h) A health care provider may assert an affirmative defense | ||
| to an action brought under Subsection (g) that the individual or an | ||
| individual legally authorized to consent on behalf of the | ||
| individual stated to the provider before the COVID-19 vaccine was | ||
| administered that the informed consent was voluntarily provided. | ||
| SECTION 4. Section 161.0086, Health and Safety Code, as | ||
| added by this Act, applies only to conduct that occurs on or after | ||
| the effective date of this Act. | ||
| SECTION 5. If any provision of this Act or its application | ||
| to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does | ||
| not affect other provisions or applications of this Act that can be | ||
| given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to | ||
| this end the provisions of this Act are declared severable. | ||
| SECTION 6. 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 on the 91st day after the last day of the | ||
| legislative session. | ||
