Connecticut 2020 Regular Session

Connecticut Senate Bill SB00144 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3	LCO No. 1159 1 of 5
4	4
5	5	General Assembly Raised Bill No. 144
6	6	February Session, 2020
7	7	LCO No. 1159
8	8
9	9
10	10	Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
11	11
12	12
13	13	Introduced by:
14	14	(PH)
15	15
16	16
17	17
18	18
19	19	AN ACT CONCERNING DE CEPTIVE ADVERTISING PRACTICES OF
20	20	LIMITED SERVICES PREGNANCY CENTERS.
21	21	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
22	22	Assembly convened:
23	23
24	24	Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2020) As used in this section and 1
25	25	sections 2 and 3 of this act: 2
26	26	(1) "Abortion" means the termination of a pregnancy for purposes 3
27	27	other than producing a live birth. "Abortion" includes, but is not limited 4
28	28	to, a termination of a pregnancy using pharmacological agents; 5
29	29	(2) "Client" means an individual who is inquiring about or seeking 6
30	30	services at a pregnancy services center; 7
31	31	(3) "Clinical laboratory services" means the microbiological, 8
32	32	serological, chemical, hematological, biophysical, cytological or 9
33	33	pathological examination of materials derived from the human body for 10
34	34	the purpose of obtaining information for the diagnosis, prevention or 11
35	35	treatment of disease or the assessment of a health condition; 12
36	36	(4) "Emergency contraception" means one or more prescription drugs 13
37	37	Raised Bill No. 144
38	38
39	39
40	40
41	41	LCO No. 1159 2 of 5
42	42
43	43	(A) used separately or in combination for the purpose of preventing 14
44	44	pregnancy, (B) administered to or self-administered by a patient within 15
45	45	a medically recommended amount of time after sexual intercourse, (C) 16
46	46	dispensed for such purpose in accordance with professional standards 17
47	47	of practice, and (D) determined by the United States Food and Drug 18
48	48	Administration to be safe for such purpose; 19
49	49	(5) "Health information" means any oral or written information in any 20
50	50	form or medium that relates to health insurance or the past, present or 21
51	51	future physical or mental health or condition of a client; 22
52	52	(6) "Licensed health care provider" means a person licensed under the 23
53	53	provisions of federal or state law to provide health care or other medical 24
54	54	services; 25
55	55	(7) "Limited services pregnancy center" means a pregnancy services 26
56	56	center that does not directly provide or provide referrals for abortions 27
57	57	or emergency contraception; 28
58	58	(8) "Pregnancy-related service" means any medical or health 29
59	59	counseling service related to pregnancy or pregnancy prevention, 30
60	60	including, but not limited to, contraception and contraceptive 31
61	61	counseling, pregnancy testing, pregnancy diagnosis, pregnancy options 32
62	62	counseling, obstetric ultrasound, obstetric sonogram and prenatal care; 33
63	63	(9) "Pregnancy services center" means a facility, including a mobile 34
64	64	facility, the primary purpose of which is to provide services to clients 35
65	65	who are or have reason to believe they may be pregnant and that either 36
66	66	(A) offers obstetric ultrasounds, obstetric sonograms, pregnancy testing 37
67	67	or diagnosis or prenatal care to pregnant clients, or (B) has the 38
68	68	appearance of a medical facility by virtue of having two or more of the 39
69	69	following factors present: (i) Staff or volunteers who wear medical attire 40
70	70	and uniforms; (ii) one or more examination tables; (iii) a private or 41
71	71	semiprivate room or area containing medical supplies or medical 42
72	72	instruments; (iv) staff or volunteers who collect health information from 43
73	73	clients; or (v) the facility is located on the same premises as a licensed 44
74	74	Raised Bill No. 144
75	75
76	76
77	77
78	78	LCO No. 1159 3 of 5
79	79
80	80	health care facility or licensed health care provider or shares facility 45
81	81	space with a licensed health care provider; 46
82	82	(10) "Premises" means land and improvements or appurtenances or 47
83	83	any part thereof; and 48
84	84	(11) "Prenatal care" means services consisting of a physical 49
85	85	examination, pelvic examination or clinical laboratory services 50
86	86	provided to a client during pregnancy. 51
87	87	Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2020) No limited services pregnancy 52
88	88	center, with the intent to perform a pregnancy-related service, shall 53
89	89	make or disseminate before the public, or cause to be made or 54
90	90	disseminated before the public, in any newspaper or other publication, 55
91	91	through any advertising device, or in any other manner, including, but 56
92	92	not limited to, through use of the Internet, any statement concerning any 57
93	93	pregnancy-related service or the provision of any pregnancy-related 58
94	94	service that is deceptive, whether by statement or omission, and that a 59
95	95	limited services pregnancy center knows or reasonably should know to 60
96	96	be deceptive. 61
97	97	Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2020) (a) The Attorney General may 62
98	98	apply to any court of competent jurisdiction for injunctive relief to 63
99	99	compel compliance with the provisions of section 2 of this act and 64
100	100	correct the effects of the deceptive advertising, provided the Attorney 65
101	101	General gives written notice to the limited services pregnancy center in 66
102	102	accordance with subsection (b) of this section. Any injunctive relief 67
103	103	ordered by the court may include requiring the limited service 68
104	104	pregnancy center to: 69
105	105	(1) Pay for and disseminate appropriate corrective advertising in the 70
106	106	same form and using the same advertising device as used in the 71
107	107	deceptive advertising; 72
108	108	(2) Post a remedial notice that corrects the effects of the deceptive 73
109	109	advertising; or 74
110	110	Raised Bill No. 144
111	111
112	112
113	113
114	114	LCO No. 1159 4 of 5
115	115
116	116	(3) Provide such other narrowly-tailored relief as the court deems 75
117	117	necessary to remedy the adverse effects of the deceptive advertising on 76
118	118	any clients seeking pregnancy-related services. 77
119	119	(b) Prior to commencing an action pursuant to subsection (a) of this 78
120	120	section, the Attorney General shall give written notice to the limited 79
121	121	services pregnancy center of the violation of section 2 of this act and 80
122	122	allow the limited services pregnancy center to cure such violation not 81
123	123	later than ten days after receipt of the written notice. The Attorney 82
124	124	General may file an action pursuant to subsection (a) of this section after 83
125	125	such ten-day period if the limited services pregnancy center does not 84
126	126	respond to the written notice or refuses to cure the violation of section 2 85
127	127	of this act. 86
128	128	(c) Upon a finding by the court that a limited services pregnancy 87
129	129	center has violated any provision of section 2 of this act, the state shall 88
130	130	be entitled to recover (1) civil penalties of not less than fifty dollars and 89
131	131	not more than five hundred dollars per violation, and (2) reasonable 90
132	132	attorney's fees and costs. 91
133	133	(d) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the state or any political 92
134	134	subdivision thereof from seeking any administrative, legal or equitable 93
135	135	relief permitted by law, including, but not limited to, relief permitted by 94
136	136	chapter 735a of the general statutes and the regulations adopted 95
137	137	thereunder. 96
138	138	This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
139	139	sections:
140	140
141	141	Section 1 July 1, 2020 New section
142	142	Sec. 2 July 1, 2020 New section
143	143	Sec. 3 July 1, 2020 New section
144	144
145	145	Statement of Purpose:
146	146	To prohibit deceptive advertising practices by limited services
147	147	pregnancy centers.
148	148
149	149	Raised Bill No. 144
150	150
151	151
152	152
153	153	LCO No. 1159 5 of 5
154	154
155	155	[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
156	156	that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
157	157	underlined.]
158	158