Bill Text: TX HB249 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the waiting period before a physician may perform an abortion.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-02-19 - Referred to Public Health [HB249 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HB249-Introduced.html

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86R1865 LED-F
By: Farrar H.B. No. 249

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the waiting period before a physician may perform an
abortion.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 171.012(a) and (b), Health and Safety
Code, are 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; and
(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;
(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 is
performed [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 AM MAKING THIS ELECTION OF MY OWN FREE WILL
AND WITHOUT COERCION.
[(8) FOR A WOMAN WHO 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 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.
(b) The information required to be provided under
Subsections (a)(1) and (2) may not be provided by audio or video
recording and must be provided, [at least 24 hours] before the
abortion is to be performed,[:
[(1)] orally and in person in a private and
confidential setting [if the pregnant woman currently lives less
than 100 miles 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; or
[(2) orally by telephone or in person in a private and
confidential setting if the pregnant woman certifies that the woman
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].
SECTION 2. Section 171.013(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The physician or the physician's agent shall furnish
copies of the materials described by Section 171.014 to the
pregnant woman [at least 24 hours] before the abortion is [to be]
performed and shall direct the pregnant woman to the Internet
website required to be published under Section 171.014(e). The
physician or the physician's agent may furnish the materials to the
pregnant woman by mail if the materials are mailed, restricted
delivery to addressee, at least 72 hours before the abortion is to
be performed.
SECTION 3. Section 171.017, Health and Safety Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies 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 in effect on the date the abortion is performed,
and that law continues in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. 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 September 1, 2019.