85R12300 SCL-F
By: Leach H.B. No. 3246
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to voluntary and informed consent to an abortion and
actions to be taken by an abortion provider to prevent coerced
abortions and human trafficking.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Subchapter B, Chapter 171, Health
and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER B. VOLUNTARY AND INFORMED CONSENT
SECTION 2. Section 171.015, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 171.015. INFORMATION RELATING TO PUBLIC AND PRIVATE
AGENCIES. The informational materials must include:
(1) geographically indexed materials designed to
inform the pregnant woman of public and private agencies and
services that:
(A) are available to assist a woman through
pregnancy, childbirth, and the child's dependency, including:
(i) a comprehensive list of adoption
agencies;
(ii) a description of the services the
adoption agencies offer;
(iii) a description of the manner,
including telephone numbers, in which an adoption agency may be
contacted; [and]
(iv) a comprehensive list of agencies and
organizations that offer sonogram services at no cost to the
pregnant woman;
(v) pregnancy resource centers and
maternity homes;
(vi) a comprehensive list of assistance
programs for victims of family violence and human trafficking;
(vii) the telephone number and Internet
website of the National Human Trafficking Resource Center;
(viii) a list of persons licensed to
practice in this state as social workers, licensed professional
counselors, licensed marriage and family therapists, and
psychologists who have volunteered to assist women being coerced or
forced to have or seek an abortion or volunteered to provide
services for human trafficking rescue and restoration; and
(ix) nonprofit organizations that provide
free legal aid to women being coerced or forced to have or seek an
abortion or to victims of human trafficking;
(B) do not provide abortions or abortion-related
services or make referrals to abortion providers; and
(C) are not affiliated with organizations that
provide abortions or abortion-related services or make referrals to
abortion providers; and
(2) a toll-free, 24-hour telephone number that may be
called to obtain an oral list and description of agencies described
by Subdivision (1) that are located near the caller and of the
services the agencies offer.
SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 171, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Sections 171.019, 171.020, 171.021,
171.022, and 171.023 to read as follows:
Sec. 171.019. PREVENTION OF COERCED ABORTIONS. (a) Before
any anesthesia or sedative is given to a woman and before an
abortion is performed on the woman, a physician shall:
(1) verbally inform the woman that the physician
cannot perform the abortion unless the woman provides her voluntary
and informed consent; and
(2) provide the woman with the coerced abortion form
described by Section 171.020:
(A) in both English and Spanish; and
(B) in a language other than English or Spanish
if required under Section 171.020(c).
(b) A physician may not perform an abortion on a woman
unless, before the abortion, the woman certifies on the coerced
abortion form described by Section 171.020 that she received from
the physician the information and materials required by Subsection
(a).
Sec. 171.020. COERCED ABORTION FORM; RETENTION OF FORM.
(a) The department shall develop a coerced abortion form to be
completed by each woman on whom an abortion is performed in this
state.
(b) The department shall provide the form required by
Subsection (a) in both English and Spanish.
(c) If the department determines that a substantial number
of residents in this state speak a primary language other than
English or Spanish, the department shall provide the form required
by Subsection (a) in that language. The department shall instruct a
facility that provides abortions to provide the coerced abortion
form in a language other than English or Spanish if the department
determines that a substantial number of residents in the area speak
a primary language other than English or Spanish.
(d) A copy of the coerced abortion form certified by the
woman shall be placed in the woman's medical file and kept until at
least the seventh anniversary of the date on which the form was
signed or, if the woman is a minor, at least until the date the woman
reaches 20 years of age, whichever is later.
Sec. 171.021. PREVENTION OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING; ASSISTANCE
TO VICTIMS. (a) If a woman at any time before an abortion is
performed on the woman indicates to the physician or the
physician's agent that she is a victim of human trafficking or the
physician is otherwise made aware that the woman has indicated she
is a victim of human trafficking, the physician shall:
(1) report an offense under Section 20A.02, Penal
Code, to local law enforcement;
(2) provide the woman with the information described
by Section 171.015; and
(3) provide the woman with access to a telephone in a
private room.
(b) An agent of a physician, including a volunteer for or an
employee of the physician or of an office or facility at which
abortions are performed, shall immediately notify the physician who
is to perform an abortion on a woman if the woman communicates to
the agent that the woman is a victim of human trafficking.
(c) If a physician or physician's agent has reasonable
suspicion that a woman is a victim of human trafficking, the
physician or physician's agent shall immediately report the
suspected trafficking and the name of the individual suspected of
trafficking to the appropriate local law enforcement agency.
Sec. 171.022. WITHDRAWAL OF CONSENT. A woman on whom an
abortion is to be performed may withdraw consent to the abortion at
any time before the performance of the abortion.
Sec. 171.023. SIGN POSTING. (a) An office or facility at
which abortions are performed shall post the following sign:
"NOTICE: Human trafficking, including sex trafficking, is a
violation of the law, and the state can help victims of trafficking.
You have the right to a telephone in a private room to contact any
local law enforcement agency to receive protection from any actual
or threatened physical abuse or violence. Texas law prohibits a
physician from performing an abortion, including inducing,
prescribing for, or otherwise providing the means for an abortion,
unless you give your voluntary and informed consent without
coercion or force. Texas law also prohibits a physician from
performing an abortion against your will.".
(b) The sign described by Subsection (a) must:
(1) be printed with lettering that is legible and in at
least two-inch boldfaced type;
(2) be printed and posted in both English and Spanish,
as well as any language other than English or Spanish if it is
likely that a substantial number of the residents in the area speak
a language other than English or Spanish as their primary language;
and
(3) include the telephone number for the National
Domestic Violence Hotline.
(c) An office or facility at which abortions are performed
shall conspicuously post the sign described by Subsection (a) in a
location in which each patient will be able to view the sign while
the patient is alone.
(d) If requested by a patient, the office or facility shall
provide the patient:
(1) a paper copy of the sign described by Subsection
(a) in the language preferred by the patient; and
(2) access to a telephone in a private room.
SECTION 4. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
date of this Act, the Department of State Health Services shall:
(1) develop and make available:
(A) the coerced abortion form required by
Subchapter B, Chapter 171, Health and Safety Code, as amended by
this Act, along with instructions for completing the form; and
(B) the sign required by Section 171.023, Health
and Safety Code, as added by this Act; and
(2) revise the informational materials under Section
171.015, Health and Safety Code, as amended by this Act.
(b) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission may identify rules required by the passage of
this Act that must be adopted on an emergency basis and may use the
procedures established under Section 2001.034, Government Code,
for adopting those rules. The executive commissioner is not
required to make the finding described by Section 2001.034(a),
Government Code, to adopt emergency rules under this subsection.
(c) A physician or other person subject to the requirements
of Sections 171.019, 171.020, 171.021, 171.022, and 171.023, Health
and Safety Code, as added by this Act, is not required to provide,
use, or retain the coerced abortion form under Section 171.019 or
171.020, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, or post the
sign required under Section 171.023, Health and Safety Code, as
added by this Act, before the Department of State Health Services
develops and makes available the form and the sign.
(d) A physician is not criminally liable under Section
171.018, Health and Safety Code, for failing to provide updated
informational materials under Section 171.015, Health and Safety
Code, as amended by this Act, failing to provide, use, or retain the
coerced abortion form under Section 171.019 or 171.020, Health and
Safety Code, as added by this Act, or failing to post the sign
required under Section 171.023, Health and Safety Code, as added by
this Act, before the Department of State Health Services develops
and makes available the revised informational materials, the form,
or the sign.
SECTION 5. 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 September 1, 2017.