Bill Text: TX SB21 | 2011 | 82nd Legislature 1st Special | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to distributing or prescribing abortion-inducing drugs; providing an administrative penalty.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-31 - Filed [SB21 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-SB21-Introduced.html
By: Patrick | S.B. No. 21 | |
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relating to distributing or prescribing abortion-inducing drugs; | ||
providing an administrative penalty. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. SECTION 1. Chapter 171, Health and Safety Code, | ||
is amended by adding Subchapter D to read as follows: | ||
SUBCHAPTER D. ABORTION-INDUCING DRUGS | ||
Sec. 171.081. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter: | ||
(1) "Abortion" means the act of using or prescribing | ||
an instrument, a medicine, a drug, or any other substance, device, | ||
or means with the intent to terminate a clinically diagnosable | ||
pregnancy of a woman and with knowledge that the termination by | ||
those means will, with reasonable likelihood, cause the death of | ||
the woman's unborn child. An act is not an abortion if the act is | ||
done with the intent to: | ||
(A) save the life or preserve the health of an | ||
unborn child; | ||
(B) remove a dead unborn child whose death was | ||
caused by spontaneous abortion; | ||
(C) remove an ectopic pregnancy; or | ||
(D) treat a maternal disease or illness for which | ||
the prescribed drug is indicated. | ||
(2) "Abortion-inducing drug" means a medicine, a drug, | ||
or any other substance prescribed or dispensed with the intent of | ||
terminating a clinically diagnosable pregnancy of a woman and with | ||
knowledge that the termination will, with reasonable likelihood, | ||
cause the death of the woman's unborn child. The term includes | ||
off-label use of drugs known to have abortion-inducing properties | ||
that are prescribed with the intent of causing an abortion, | ||
including misoprostol and methotrexate. The term does not include | ||
a drug that may be known to cause an abortion but is prescribed for | ||
other medical reasons. | ||
(3) "Drug label" means a pamphlet accompanying an | ||
abortion-inducing drug that: | ||
(A) outlines the protocol tested and authorized | ||
by the United States Food and Drug Administration and agreed to by | ||
the drug company applying for authorization of the drug by that | ||
agency; and | ||
(B) delineates how a drug is to be used according | ||
to approval by that agency. | ||
(4) "Gestational age" means the amount of time that | ||
has elapsed since the first day of a woman's last menstrual period. | ||
(5) "Medical abortion" means the use of | ||
abortion-inducing drugs to induce an abortion. | ||
(6) "Physician" means an individual who is licensed to | ||
practice medicine in this state, including a medical doctor and a | ||
doctor of osteopathic medicine. | ||
(7) "Pregnant" means the female reproductive | ||
condition of having an unborn child in a woman's uterus. | ||
(8) "Unborn child" means an offspring of human beings | ||
from conception until birth. | ||
Sec. 171.082. ENFORCEMENT BY TEXAS MEDICAL BOARD. | ||
Notwithstanding Section 171.005, the Texas Medical Board shall | ||
enforce this subchapter. | ||
Sec. 171.083. DISTRIBUTION OF ABORTION-INDUCING DRUG. | ||
(a) A person may not knowingly give, sell, dispense, administer, | ||
provide, or prescribe an abortion-inducing drug to a pregnant woman | ||
for the purpose of inducing an abortion in the pregnant woman or | ||
enabling another person to induce an abortion in the pregnant woman | ||
unless: | ||
(1) the person who gives, sells, dispenses, | ||
administers, provides, or prescribes the abortion-inducing drug is | ||
a physician; and | ||
(2) the provision or prescription of the | ||
abortion-inducing drug satisfies the protocol tested and | ||
authorized by the United States Food and Drug Administration as | ||
outlined in the abortion-inducing drug's drug label. | ||
(b) Before the physician gives, sells, dispenses, | ||
administers, provides, or prescribes the abortion-inducing drug, | ||
the physician must examine the pregnant woman and document, in the | ||
woman's medical record, the gestational age and intrauterine | ||
location of the pregnancy. | ||
(c) The physician who gives, sells, dispenses, administers, | ||
provides, or prescribes the abortion-inducing drug shall provide | ||
the pregnant woman with a copy of the abortion-inducing drug's drug | ||
label. | ||
(d) The physician who gives, sells, dispenses, administers, | ||
provides, or prescribes the abortion-inducing drug must: | ||
(1) have a signed contract with another physician who | ||
agrees to treat emergencies arising from use of the drug; and | ||
(2) produce the signed contract on demand by the | ||
pregnant woman or the Texas Medical Board. | ||
(e) The physician who gives, sells, dispenses, administers, | ||
provides, or prescribes the abortion-inducing drug shall provide | ||
the pregnant woman with the name and phone number of: | ||
(1) the physician who would treat an emergency arising | ||
from use of the drug; and | ||
(2) the hospital at which an emergency arising from | ||
use of the drug would be treated. | ||
(f) A physician who contracts to treat an emergency arising | ||
from use of an abortion-inducing drug must have active admitting, | ||
gynecological, and surgical privileges at the hospital designated | ||
to treat the emergency. | ||
(g) The physician who gives, sells, dispenses, administers, | ||
provides, or prescribes the abortion-inducing drug, or the | ||
physician's agent, must schedule a follow-up visit for the woman to | ||
occur not more than 14 days after the administration of the drug. | ||
At the follow-up visit, the physician must: | ||
(1) confirm that the pregnancy is completely | ||
terminated; and | ||
(2) assess the degree of bleeding. | ||
(h) The physician who gives, sells, dispenses, administers, | ||
provides, or prescribes the abortion-inducing drug, or the | ||
physician's agent, shall make a reasonable effort to ensure that | ||
the woman returns for the scheduled appointment. The physician or | ||
the physician's agent shall include a brief description of any | ||
effort made to comply with this subsection, including the date, | ||
time, and name of the person making the effort, in the woman's | ||
medical record. | ||
(i) If a physician provides an abortion-inducing drug to a | ||
pregnant woman for the purpose of inducing an abortion as | ||
authorized by this section and the physician knows that the woman | ||
experiences a serious adverse event, as defined by the MedWatch | ||
Reporting System, during or after using the drug, the physician | ||
shall report the event to the United States Food and Drug | ||
Administration through the MedWatch Reporting System within three | ||
days of the event. | ||
Sec. 171.084. ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY. (a) The Texas | ||
Medical Board may: | ||
(1) take disciplinary action under Chapter 164, | ||
Occupations Code, against a person who violates Section 171.083; or | ||
(2) assess an administrative penalty under Subchapter | ||
A, Chapter 165, Occupations Code, against a person who violates | ||
Section 171.083. | ||
(b) A penalty may not be assessed under this section against | ||
a pregnant woman who receives a medical abortion. | ||
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011, if this | ||
Act 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 this Act to take | ||
effect on that date, this Act takes effect on the 91st day after the | ||
last day of the legislative session. |