Bill Text: TX SB18 | 2013 | 83rd Legislature 1st Special Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Relating to distributing or prescribing abortion-inducing drugs; providing penalties.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-06-18 - Co-author authorized [SB18 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-SB18-Comm_Sub.html
| By: Patrick | S.B. No. 18 | |
| (In the Senate - Filed May 29, 2013; June 11, 2013, read | ||
| first time and referred to Committee on Health and Human Services; | ||
| June 14, 2013, reported adversely, with favorable Committee | ||
| Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 2; June 14, 2013, | ||
| sent to printer.) | ||
| COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 18 | By: Nichols | |
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| relating to distributing or prescribing abortion-inducing drugs; | ||
| providing penalties. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Chapter 171, Health and Safety Code, is amended | ||
| by adding Subchapter C to read as follows: | ||
| SUBCHAPTER C. ABORTION-INDUCING DRUGS | ||
| Sec. 171.051. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter: | ||
| (1) "Abortion-inducing drug" means a drug, a medicine, | ||
| or any other substance, including a regimen of two or more drugs, | ||
| medicines, or substances, prescribed, dispensed, or administered | ||
| 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, medicines, or other | ||
| substances known to have abortion-inducing properties that are | ||
| prescribed, dispensed, or administered with the intent of causing | ||
| an abortion, including the Mifeprex regimen. The term does not | ||
| include a drug, medicine, or other substance that may be known to | ||
| cause an abortion but is prescribed, dispensed, or administered for | ||
| other medical reasons. | ||
| (2) "Final printed label" or "FPL" means the | ||
| informational document approved by the United States Food and Drug | ||
| Administration for an abortion-inducing drug that: | ||
| (A) outlines the protocol authorized by that | ||
| agency 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. | ||
| (3) "Gestational age" means the amount of time that | ||
| has elapsed since the first day of a woman's last menstrual period. | ||
| (4) "Medical abortion" means the administration or use | ||
| of an abortion-inducing drug to induce an abortion. | ||
| (5) "Mifeprex regimen," "RU-486 regimen," or "RU-486" | ||
| means the abortion-inducing drug regimen approved by the United | ||
| States Food and Drug Administration that consists of administering | ||
| mifepristone and misoprostol. | ||
| (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. 171.0511. APPLICABILITY TO MEDICAL ABORTION. This | ||
| subchapter does not apply to an abortion done with the intent to: | ||
| (1) save the life or preserve the health of an unborn | ||
| child; | ||
| (2) remove a dead, unborn child whose death was caused | ||
| by spontaneous abortion; | ||
| (3) remove an ectopic pregnancy; or | ||
| (4) treat a maternal disease or illness for which a | ||
| prescribed drug, medicine, or other substance is indicated. | ||
| Sec. 171.052. ENFORCEMENT BY TEXAS MEDICAL BOARD. | ||
| Notwithstanding Section 171.005, the Texas Medical Board shall | ||
| enforce this subchapter. | ||
| Sec. 171.053. 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; | ||
| (2) the physician administering the abortion-inducing | ||
| drug administers the drug to the woman while both are present at an | ||
| abortion facility licensed under Chapter 245; and | ||
| (3) the provision, prescription, or administration of | ||
| the abortion-inducing drug satisfies the protocol tested and | ||
| authorized by the United States Food and Drug Administration as | ||
| outlined in the final printed label of the abortion-inducing drug. | ||
| (b) Before the physician gives, sells, dispenses, | ||
| administers, provides, or prescribes an 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 an abortion-inducing drug shall provide the | ||
| pregnant woman with: | ||
| (1) a copy of the final printed label of that | ||
| abortion-inducing drug; and | ||
| (2) a telephone number by which the pregnant woman may | ||
| reach the physician, or other health care personnel employed by the | ||
| physician or by the facility at which the abortion was performed | ||
| with access to the woman's relevant medical records, 24 hours a day | ||
| to request assistance for any complications that arise from the | ||
| administration or use of the drug or ask health-related questions | ||
| regarding the administration or use of the drug. | ||
| (d) 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 or use 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. | ||
| (e) 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 follow-up visit under | ||
| Subsection (d). The physician or the physician's agent shall | ||
| document 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. | ||
| (f) If a physician gives, sells, dispenses, administers, | ||
| provides, or prescribes 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 the administration or use of the drug, the physician | ||
| shall report the event to the United States Food and Drug | ||
| Administration through the MedWatch Reporting System not later than | ||
| the third day after the date the physician learns that the event | ||
| occurred. | ||
| Sec. 171.054. ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY. (a) The Texas | ||
| Medical Board may take disciplinary action under Chapter 164, | ||
| Occupations Code, or assess an administrative penalty under | ||
| Subchapter A, Chapter 165, Occupations Code, against a person who | ||
| violates Section 171.053. | ||
| (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 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. | ||
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