Bill Text: TX SB95 | 2017 | 85th Legislature 1st Special Session | Introduced

Texas Senate Bill 95 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Relating to the Whole Woman's Health Act.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-07-19 - Filed [SB95 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-SB95-Introduced.html

	85S10772 DMS-F

	By: Rodríguez	S.B. No. 95



	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the Whole Woman's Health Act.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1. (a) This Act shall be known as the Whole Woman's
	Health Act.
	(b) The legislature finds that:
	(1) comprehensive reproductive health care, including
	safe abortion, is a vital component of a woman's overall health and
	of her social and economic equality;
	(2) abortion is one of the safest medical procedures
	in the United States, as demonstrated by available data, including
	from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
	showing abortion has a more than 99 percent safety record;
	(3) any regulation of medical care must have a
	legitimate purpose and advance the goals of improving the quality
	of care and increasing access to care;
	(4) the United States Supreme Court held more than 40
	years ago in Roe v. Wade that access to an abortion is a
	constitutional right and that states may not prohibit abortion
	before viability;
	(5) the right to an abortion has been upheld multiple
	times by the United States Supreme Court, including in the 1992 case
	Planned Parenthood v. Casey and most recently in the landmark
	decision Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt;
	(6) in Whole Woman's Health, the court held that the
	United States Constitution "requires that courts consider the
	burdens a law imposes on abortion access together with the benefits
	those laws confer";
	(7) in Whole Woman's Health, the court further held
	that courts, "when determining the constitutionality of laws
	regulating abortion procedures," must place "considerable weight
	upon evidence . . . presented";
	(8) applying the standard described in Subdivision (7)
	of this section in Whole Woman's Health, the court struck down two
	provisions of Chapter 1 (H.B. 2), Acts of the 83rd Legislature, 2nd
	Called Session, 2013, that were designed to close abortion clinics
	in the state and that the court concluded provided few, if any,
	health benefits for women;
	(9) Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg concluded in Whole
	Woman's Health given the safety of abortion, "it is beyond rational
	belief that H.B. 2 could genuinely protect the health of women, and
	certain that the law 'would simply make it more difficult for them
	to obtain abortions'";
	(10) Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also observed
	abortion restrictions that "'do little or nothing for health, but
	rather strew impediments to abortion' . . . cannot survive judicial
	inspection";
	(11) according to the American College of
	Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Medical Association,
	American Academy of Family Physicians, and American Osteopathic
	Association, which are leading public health organizations and
	amici curiae for the petitioners in Whole Woman's Health,
	"[w]omen's access to high-quality, evidence-based abortion should
	not be limited by laws enacted under the guise of patient safety but
	that, in fact, harm women's health"; and
	(12) the 334 restrictions on abortion providers and
	their patients adopted nationally since 2011 and the 13 onerous
	restrictions enacted in this state based on pretextual reasons are
	just a systematic attempt to eliminate access to safe and legal
	medical care.
	(c) In accordance with the United States Constitution, it is
	the intent of the legislature to prevent the enforcement of laws or
	regulations that burden abortion access and do not provide
	legitimate health benefits.
	SECTION 2. The heading to Chapter 170, Health and Safety
	Code, is amended to read as follows:
	CHAPTER 170. PROHIBITED ACTS REGARDING ABORTION AND RIGHT TO
	ABORTION
	SECTION 3. Chapter 170, Health and Safety Code, is amended
	by adding Sections 170.003 and 170.004 to read as follows:
	Sec. 170.003. RIGHT TO ABORTION. Every woman in this state
	has the fundamental right to choose to obtain a safe and legal
	abortion. This state or a political subdivision of this state may
	not prohibit a woman from obtaining an abortion at any time
	throughout her pregnancy if the termination is necessary, in the
	professional judgment of a physician, to protect the woman's life
	or health.
	Sec. 170.004. PROHIBITED ABORTION LAWS; CIVIL ACTION;
	WAIVER OF IMMUNITY. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, this state
	or a political subdivision of this state may not enforce a law on
	abortion that places a burden on a woman's access to abortion and
	does not confer any legitimate health benefit to the woman.
	(b) For purposes of Subsection (a), a law places a burden on
	access to abortion if the law:
	(1) forces abortion providers to close;
	(2) increases the time a woman is required to wait to
	have an abortion;
	(3) requires a meaningful increase in the distance a
	woman is required to travel to access care;
	(4) requires medically unnecessary visits to a health
	care facility;
	(5) requires a health care provider to perform a
	medical or health care service the provider would not otherwise
	perform;
	(6) increases the risk to a woman's health;
	(7) causes a meaningful increase in the cost of an
	abortion procedure;
	(8) is enacted solely for the purpose of stigmatizing
	abortion patients and abortion providers; or
	(9) has as its sole purpose or effect decreasing or
	eliminating access to abortion.
	(c) For purposes of Subsection (a), a law confers a
	legitimate health benefit if the law:
	(1) expands a woman's access to medical or health care
	services; or
	(2) increases an abortion patient's safety according
	to evidence-based research.
	(d) A person who is aggrieved by this state's or a political
	subdivision's violation of Subsection (a) may bring a civil action
	against this state or the political subdivision for injunctive
	relief and damages incurred as a result of the violation. Sovereign
	immunity of this state and governmental immunity of the political
	subdivision from suit and to liability are waived and abolished to
	the extent of liability created under this subsection.
	SECTION 4. Section 171.003, Health and Safety Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 171.003. PERSONS WHO MAY [~~PHYSICIAN TO~~] PERFORM
	ABORTION. An abortion may be performed only by:
	(1) a physician licensed to practice medicine in this
	state;
	(2) a nurse licensed under Subtitle E, Title 3,
	Occupations Code, operating within the nurse's scope of practice;
	or
	(3) a physician assistant licensed under Chapter 204,
	Occupations Code, operating within the physician assistant's scope
	of practice.
	SECTION 5. The heading to Section 245.010, Health and
	Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 245.010. PERSONS WHO MAY PERFORM ABORTION [~~MINIMUM~~
	~~STANDARDS~~].
	SECTION 6. Section 245.010(b), Health and Safety Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	(b) Only a physician as defined by Subtitle B, Title 3,
	Occupations Code, a nurse licensed under Subtitle E, Title 3,
	Occupations Code, operating within the scope of that license, or a
	physician assistant licensed under Chapter 204, Occupations Code,
	operating within the scope of that license may perform an abortion.
	SECTION 7. Section 164.052(a), Occupations Code, as
	effective September 1, 2017, is amended to read as follows:
	(a) A physician or an applicant for a license to practice
	medicine commits a prohibited practice if that person:
	(1) submits to the board a false or misleading
	statement, document, or certificate in an application for a
	license;
	(2) presents to the board a license, certificate, or
	diploma that was illegally or fraudulently obtained;
	(3) commits fraud or deception in taking or passing an
	examination;
	(4) uses alcohol or drugs in an intemperate manner
	that, in the board's opinion, could endanger a patient's life;
	(5) commits unprofessional or dishonorable conduct
	that is likely to deceive or defraud the public, as provided by
	Section 164.053, or injure the public;
	(6) uses an advertising statement that is false,
	misleading, or deceptive;
	(7) advertises professional superiority or the
	performance of professional service in a superior manner if that
	advertising is not readily subject to verification;
	(8) purchases, sells, barters, or uses, or offers to
	purchase, sell, barter, or use, a medical degree, license,
	certificate, or diploma, or a transcript of a license, certificate,
	or diploma in or incident to an application to the board for a
	license to practice medicine;
	(9) alters, with fraudulent intent, a medical license,
	certificate, or diploma, or a transcript of a medical license,
	certificate, or diploma;
	(10) uses a medical license, certificate, or diploma,
	or a transcript of a medical license, certificate, or diploma that
	has been:
	(A) fraudulently purchased or issued;
	(B) counterfeited; or
	(C) materially altered;
	(11) impersonates or acts as proxy for another person
	in an examination required by this subtitle for a medical license;
	(12) engages in conduct that subverts or attempts to
	subvert an examination process required by this subtitle for a
	medical license;
	(13) impersonates a physician or permits another to
	use the person's license or certificate to practice medicine in
	this state;
	(14) directly or indirectly employs a person whose
	license to practice medicine has been suspended, canceled, or
	revoked;
	(15) associates in the practice of medicine with a
	person:
	(A) whose license to practice medicine has been
	suspended, canceled, or revoked; or
	(B) who has been convicted of the unlawful
	practice of medicine in this state or elsewhere;
	(16) performs or procures a criminal abortion, aids or
	abets in the procuring of a criminal abortion, attempts to perform
	or procure a criminal abortion, or attempts to aid or abet the
	performance or procurement of a criminal abortion;
	(17) directly or indirectly aids or abets the practice
	of medicine by a person, partnership, association, or corporation
	that is not licensed to practice medicine by the board;
	(18) performs an abortion on a woman who is pregnant
	with a viable unborn child during the third trimester of the
	pregnancy unless:
	(A) the abortion is necessary to protect the
	health or prevent the death of the woman;
	(B) the viable unborn child has a severe,
	irreversible brain impairment; or
	(C) the woman is diagnosed with a significant
	likelihood of suffering imminent severe, irreversible brain damage
	or imminent severe, irreversible paralysis;
	(19) performs an abortion on an unemancipated minor
	without the written consent of the child's parent, managing
	conservator, or legal guardian or without a court order, as
	provided by Section 33.003 or 33.004, Family Code, unless the
	abortion is necessary due to a medical emergency, as defined by
	Section 171.002, Health and Safety Code; or
	(20) otherwise performs an abortion on an
	unemancipated minor in violation of Chapter 33, Family Code[~~; or~~
	[~~(21)~~ ~~performs or induces or attempts to perform or~~
	~~induce an abortion in violation of Subchapter C, F, or G, Chapter~~
	~~171, Health and Safety Code~~].
	SECTION 8. Section 164.055(b), Occupations Code, as
	effective September 1, 2017, is amended to read as follows:
	(b) The sanctions provided by Subsection (a) are in addition
	to any other grounds for refusal to admit persons to examination
	under this subtitle or to issue a license or renew a license to
	practice medicine under this subtitle. The criminal penalties
	provided by Section 165.152 do not apply to a violation of Section
	170.002, Health and Safety Code[~~, or Subchapter C, F, or G, Chapter~~
	~~171, Health and Safety Code~~].
	SECTION 9. The following provisions are repealed:
	(1) Section 32.005, Health and Safety Code;
	(2) Sections 171.0031, 171.004, 171.012, 171.0121,
	171.0122, 171.0123, 171.013, 171.014, 171.015, 171.016, 171.017,
	and 171.018, Health and Safety Code;
	(3) Subchapters C, D, F, and G, Chapter 171, Health and
	Safety Code;
	(4) Sections 241.007, 243.017, 245.010(a), and
	245.024, Health and Safety Code; and
	(5) Section 164.0551, Occupations Code.
	SECTION 10. The changes in law made by this Act apply only
	to an abortion performed on or after the effective date of this Act.
	An abortion performed before the effective date of this Act is
	governed by the law applicable to the abortion immediately before
	the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect
	for that purpose.
	SECTION 11. This Act takes effect December 1, 2017.