Bill Text: TX SB9 | 2013 | 83rd Legislature 2nd Special Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to distributing or prescribing abortion-inducing drugs; providing penalties.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-06-28 - Filed [SB9 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-SB9-Introduced.html
By: Paxton | S.B. No. 9 | |
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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. |