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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 835
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 2758
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduced by:
(PH)
AN ACT CONCERNING DE CEPTIVE ADVERTISING PRACTICES OF
LIMITED SERVICES PREGNANCY CENTERS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2021) As used in this section and 1
sections 2 and 3 of this act: 2
(1) "Abortion" means the termination of a pregnancy for purposes 3
other than producing a live birth. "Abortion" includes, but is not limited 4
to, a termination of a pregnancy using pharmacological agents; 5
(2) "Client" means an individual who is inquiring about or seeking 6
services at a pregnancy services center; 7
(3) "Clinical laboratory services" means the microbiological, 8
serological, chemical, hematological, biophysical, cytological or 9
pathological examination of materials derived from the human body for 10
the purpose of obtaining information for the diagnosis, prevention or 11
treatment of disease or the assessment of a health condition; 12
(4) "Emergency contraception" means one or more prescription drugs 13 Raised Bill No. 835
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(A) used separately or in combination for the purpose of preventing 14
pregnancy, (B) administered to or self-administered by a patient within 15
a medically recommended amount of time after sexual intercourse, (C) 16
dispensed for such purpose in accordance with professional standards 17
of practice, and (D) determined by the United States Food and Drug 18
Administration to be safe for such purpose; 19
(5) "Health information" means any oral or written information in any 20
form or medium that relates to health insurance or the past, present or 21
future physical or mental health or condition of a client; 22
(6) "Licensed health care provider" means a person licensed under the 23
provisions of federal or state law to provide health care or other medical 24
services; 25
(7) "Limited services pregnancy center" means a pregnancy services 26
center that does not directly provide or provide referrals for abortions 27
or emergency contraception; 28
(8) "Pregnancy-related service" means any medical or health 29
counseling service related to pregnancy or pregnancy prevention, 30
including, but not limited to, contraception and contraceptive 31
counseling, pregnancy testing, pregnancy diagnosis, pregnancy options 32
counseling, obstetric ultrasound, obstetric sonogram and prenatal care; 33
(9) "Pregnancy services center" means a facility, including a mobile 34
facility, the primary purpose of which is to provide services to clients 35
who are or have reason to believe they may be pregnant and that either 36
(A) offers obstetric ultrasounds, obstetric sonograms, pregnancy testing 37
or diagnosis or prenatal care to pregnant clients, or (B) has the 38
appearance of a medical facility by virtue of having two or more of the 39
following factors present: (i) Staff or volunteers who wear medical attire 40
and uniforms; (ii) one or more examination tables; (iii) a private or 41
semiprivate room or area containing medical supplies or medical 42
instruments; (iv) staff or volunteers who collect health information from 43
clients; or (v) the facility is located on the same premises as a licensed 44
health care facility or licensed health care provider or shares facility 45 Raised Bill No. 835
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space with a licensed health care provider; 46
(10) "Premises" means land and improvements or appurtenances or 47
any part thereof; and 48
(11) "Prenatal care" means services consisting of a physical 49
examination, pelvic examination or clinical laboratory services 50
provided to a client during pregnancy. 51
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2021) No limited services pregnancy 52
center, with the intent to perform a pregnancy-related service, shall 53
make or disseminate before the public, or cause to be made or 54
disseminated before the public, in any newspaper or other publication, 55
through any advertising device, or in any other manner, including, but 56
not limited to, through use of the Internet, any statement concerning any 57
pregnancy-related service or the provision of any pregnancy-related 58
service that is deceptive, whether by statement or omission, and that a 59
limited services pregnancy center knows or reasonably should know to 60
be deceptive. 61
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2021) (a) The Attorney General may 62
apply to any court of competent jurisdiction for injunctive relief to 63
compel compliance with the provisions of section 2 of this act and 64
correct the effects of the deceptive advertising, provided the Attorney 65
General gives written notice to the limited services pregnancy center in 66
accordance with subsection (b) of this section. Any injunctive relief 67
ordered by the court may include requiring the limited service 68
pregnancy center to: 69
(1) Pay for and disseminate appropriate corrective advertising in the 70
same form and using the same advertising device as used in the 71
deceptive advertising; 72
(2) Post a remedial notice that corrects the effects of the deceptive 73
advertising; or 74
(3) Provide such other narrowly tailored relief as the court deems 75 Raised Bill No. 835
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necessary to remedy the adverse effects of the deceptive advertising on 76
any clients seeking pregnancy-related services. 77
(b) Prior to commencing an action pursuant to subsection (a) of this 78
section, the Attorney General shall give written notice to the limited 79
services pregnancy center of the violation of section 2 of this act and 80
allow the limited services pregnancy center to cure such violation not 81
later than ten days after receipt of the written notice. The Attorney 82
General may file an action pursuant to subsection (a) of this section after 83
such ten-day period if the limited services pregnancy center does not 84
respond to the written notice or refuses to cure the violation of section 2 85
of this act. 86
(c) Upon a finding by the court that a limited services pregnancy 87
center has violated any provision of section 2 of this act, the state shall 88
be entitled to recover (1) civil penalties of not less than fifty dollars and 89
not more than five hundred dollars per violation, and (2) reasonable 90
attorney's fees and costs. 91
(d) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the state or any political 92
subdivision thereof from seeking any administrative, legal or equitable 93
relief permitted by law, including, but not limited to, relief permitted by 94
chapter 735a of the general statutes and the regulations adopted 95
thereunder. 96
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2021 New section
Sec. 2 July 1, 2021 New section
Sec. 3 July 1, 2021 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To prohibit deceptive advertising practices by limited services
pregnancy centers. .
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]