By: Thompson H.B. No. 2592
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to alternatives to abortion organizations; imposing a
civil penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle H, Title 2, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 173 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 173. ALTERNATIVES TO ABORTION ORGANIZATIONS
Sec. 173.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Alternatives to abortion organization" means an
organization, including a pregnancy counseling organization or
crisis pregnancy center, that for a fee or as a free service
provides pregnancy counseling or information but does not perform
an abortion or refer a female to an abortion provider. The term
does not include a licensed health care provider, a hospital, or a
family planning clinic that provides abortions or contraception or
provides abortion or contraception referrals.
(2) "Commission" means the Health and Human Services
Commission.
(3) "Health care practitioner" means a physician,
midwife, physician assistant, or nurse authorized to provide health
care services under Subtitle B, C, or E, Title 3, Occupations Code.
(4) "Licensed counselor" means a person licensed as a
counseling or mental health professional under Chapter 501, 502,
503, or 505, Occupations Code.
(5) "Patient" means a woman seeking information,
assistance, or other services from an alternatives to abortion
organization.
Sec. 173.002. LICENSE. (a) An alternatives to abortion
organization may be licensed under this chapter.
(b) An alternatives to abortion organization may not
directly or indirectly receive state money or other assistance
unless the organization is licensed under this chapter.
(c) A license issued under this chapter is not transferable
or assignable.
Sec. 173.003. LICENSE APPLICATION AND ISSUANCE. (a) An
applicant for an alternatives to abortion organization license must
submit an application to the commission on a form prescribed by the
commission.
(b) Each application must be accompanied by a nonrefundable
license fee in an amount set by the commission.
(c) The application must contain evidence that:
(1) at least one health care practitioner is on the
organization's staff; or
(2) at least one licensed counselor is on the
organization's staff.
(d) The commission shall issue a license to the applicant
if, after inspection and investigation, it finds that the
alternatives to abortion organization meets the requirements of
this chapter and the standards adopted under this chapter.
(e) As a condition for renewal of a license, the license
holder must submit to the commission the annual license renewal
fee.
(f) Information regarding the licensing status of an
alternatives to abortion organization is an open record for the
purposes of Chapter 552, Government Code, and shall be made
available by the commission on request.
Sec. 173.004. INSPECTIONS. (a) The commission may inspect
a licensed alternatives to abortion organization, or an applicant
for a license, at reasonable times as necessary to ensure
compliance with this chapter.
(b) The commission shall inspect an alternatives to
abortion organization before renewing the organization's license
under Section 173.003(e).
Sec. 173.005. FEES. The commission shall set fees imposed
by this chapter in amounts reasonable and necessary to defray the
cost of administering this chapter.
Sec. 173.006. ALTERNATIVES TO ABORTION ORGANIZATION
LICENSING FUND. All fees collected under this chapter shall be
deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the alternatives to
abortion organization licensing fund and may be appropriated only
to the commission to administer and enforce this chapter.
Sec. 173.007. ADOPTION OF RULES. The executive
commissioner of the commission shall adopt rules necessary to
implement this chapter, including requirements for the issuance,
renewal, denial, suspension, and revocation of a license.
Sec. 173.008. MINIMUM STANDARDS. (a) The rules adopted
under Section 173.007 must contain minimum standards for licensed
alternatives to abortion organizations to protect the health and
safety of a patient.
(b) The standards may not be more stringent than Medicare
certification standards, if any, for:
(1) qualifications for professional and
nonprofessional personnel;
(2) supervision of professional and nonprofessional
personnel;
(3) sanitary and hygienic conditions within an
alternatives to abortion organization;
(4) the equipment essential to the health and welfare
of a patient;
(5) clinical records kept by an alternatives to
abortion organization; and
(6) management, ownership, and control of the
organization.
(c) This section does not authorize the commission to:
(1) establish the qualifications of a licensed
practitioner; or
(2) permit a person to provide health care services
who is not authorized to provide those services under other laws of
this state.
Sec. 173.009. PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS; USE OF INFORMATION.
(a) An alternatives to abortion organization may not reveal a
patient's name or health information or any other identifying
information without the patient's written consent.
(b) An alternatives to abortion organization must comply
with Section 181.152.
(c) This section applies without regard to whether the
alternatives to abortion organization is licensed.
Sec. 173.010. DISCIPLINARY ACTION. (a) An alternatives to
abortion organization that violates Section 173.009 is ineligible
to receive state funding.
(b) If the commission determines an alternatives to
abortion organization violated Section 173.009, the commission
shall withhold state money otherwise to be provided to the
organization. The organization is liable to this state for any
money the organization has already received from the state during
the state fiscal year in which the determination is made. The
organization is not eligible for state funding before the first
anniversary of the date of the commission determination. The
attorney general in the name of the state may bring an action to
recover amounts owed to the state under this section.
(c) If the commission determines that an alternatives to
abortion organization that does not receive state money or other
assistance violated this chapter, the attorney general, at the
request of the commission, shall bring an action to impose a civil
penalty in an amount not to exceed $5,000 for each violation.
(d) An alternatives to abortion organization may appeal a
commission determination under this section to the State Office of
Administrative Hearings. An appeal under this subsection is a
contested case under Chapter 2001, Government Code.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.