By: RodrÃguez S.B. No. 1632
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the Whole Woman's Health Act.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. (a) This Act shall be known as the Whole Woman's
Health Act.
(b) The legislature finds that:
(1) comprehensive reproductive health care, including
safe abortion, is a vital component of a woman's overall health and
of her social and economic equality;
(2) abortion is one of the safest medical procedures
in the United States, as demonstrated by available data, including
from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
showing abortion has a more than 99 percent safety record;
(3) any regulation of medical care must have a
legitimate purpose and advance the goals of improving the quality
of care and increasing access to care;
(4) the United States Supreme Court held more than 40
years ago in Roe v. Wade that access to an abortion is a
constitutional right and that states may not prohibit abortion
before viability;
(5) the right to an abortion has been upheld multiple
times by the United States Supreme Court, including in the 1992 case
Planned Parenthood v. Casey and most recently in the landmark
decision Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt;
(6) in Whole Woman's Health, the court held that the
United States Constitution "requires that courts consider the
burdens a law imposes on abortion access together with the benefits
those laws confer";
(7) in Whole Woman's Health, the court further held
that courts, "when determining the constitutionality of laws
regulating abortion procedures," must place "considerable weight
upon evidence . . . presented";
(8) applying the standard described in Subdivision (7)
of this section in Whole Woman's Health, the court struck down two
provisions of Chapter 1 (H.B. 2), Acts of the 83rd Legislature, 2nd
Called Session, 2013, that were designed to close abortion clinics
in the state and that the court concluded provided few, if any,
health benefits for women;
(9) Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg concluded in Whole
Woman's Health given the safety of abortion, "it is beyond rational
belief that H.B. 2 could genuinely protect the health of women, and
certain that the law 'would simply make it more difficult for them
to obtain abortions'";
(10) Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also observed
abortion restrictions that "'do little or nothing for health, but
rather strew impediments to abortion' . . . cannot survive judicial
inspection";
(11) according to the American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Medical Association,
American Academy of Family Physicians, and American Osteopathic
Association, which are leading public health organizations and
amici curiae for the petitioners in Whole Woman's Health,
"[w]omen's access to high-quality, evidence-based abortion should
not be limited by laws enacted under the guise of patient safety but
that, in fact, harm women's health"; and
(12) the 334 restrictions on abortion providers and
their patients adopted nationally since 2011 and the 13 onerous
restrictions enacted in this state based on pretextual reasons are
just a systematic attempt to eliminate access to safe and legal
medical care.
(c) In accordance with the United States Constitution, it is
the intent of the legislature to prevent the enforcement of laws or
regulations that burden abortion access and do not provide
legitimate health benefits.
SECTION 2. The heading to Chapter 170, Health and Safety
Code, is amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 170. PROHIBITED ACTS REGARDING ABORTION AND RIGHT TO
ABORTION
SECTION 3. Chapter 170, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Sections 170.003 and 170.004 to read as follows:
Sec. 170.003. RIGHT TO ABORTION. Every woman in this state
has the fundamental right to choose to obtain a safe and legal
abortion. This state or a political subdivision of this state may
not prohibit a woman from obtaining an abortion at any time
throughout her pregnancy if the termination is necessary, in the
professional judgment of a physician, to protect the woman's life
or health.
Sec. 170.004. PROHIBITED ABORTION LAWS; CIVIL ACTION;
WAIVER OF IMMUNITY. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, this state
or a political subdivision of this state may not enforce a law on
abortion that places a burden on a woman's access to abortion and
does not confer any legitimate health benefit to the woman.
(b) For purposes of Subsection (a), a law places a burden on
access to abortion if the law:
(1) forces abortion providers to close;
(2) increases the time a woman is required to wait to
have an abortion;
(3) requires a meaningful increase in the distance a
woman is required to travel to access care;
(4) requires medically unnecessary visits to a health
care facility;
(5) requires a health care provider to perform a
medical or health care service the provider would not otherwise
perform;
(6) increases the risk to a woman's health;
(7) causes a meaningful increase in the cost of an
abortion procedure;
(8) is enacted solely for the purpose of stigmatizing
abortion patients and abortion providers; or
(9) has as its sole purpose or effect decreasing or
eliminating access to abortion.
(c) For purposes of Subsection (a), a law confers a
legitimate health benefit if the law:
(1) expands a woman's access to medical or health care
services; or
(2) increases an abortion patient's safety according
to evidence-based research.
(d) A person who is aggrieved by this state's or a political
subdivision's violation of Subsection (a) may bring a civil action
against this state or the political subdivision for injunctive
relief and damages incurred as a result of the violation. Sovereign
immunity of this state and governmental immunity of the political
subdivision from suit and to liability are waived and abolished to
the extent of liability created under this subsection.
SECTION 4. Section 171.003, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 171.003. PERSONS WHO MAY [PHYSICIAN TO] PERFORM
ABORTION. An abortion may be performed only by:
(1) a physician licensed to practice medicine in this
state;
(2) a nurse licensed under Subtitle E, Title 3,
Occupations Code, that is operating within the nurse's scope of
practice; or
(3) a physician assistant licensed under Chapter 204,
Occupations Code, that is operating within the physician
assistant's scope of practice.
SECTION 5. The heading to Section 245.010, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 245.010. PERSONS WHO MAY PERFORM ABORTION [MINIMUM
STANDARDS].
SECTION 6. Section 245.010(b), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) Only a physician as defined by Subtitle B, Title 3,
Occupations Code, a nurse licensed under Subtitle E, Title 3,
Occupations Code, that is operating within the nurse's scope of
practice, or a physician assistant licensed under Chapter 204,
Occupations Code, that is operating within the physician
assistant's scope of practice may perform an abortion.
SECTION 7. Section 164.052(a), Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A physician or an applicant for a license to practice
medicine commits a prohibited practice if that person:
(1) submits to the board a false or misleading
statement, document, or certificate in an application for a
license;
(2) presents to the board a license, certificate, or
diploma that was illegally or fraudulently obtained;
(3) commits fraud or deception in taking or passing an
examination;
(4) uses alcohol or drugs in an intemperate manner
that, in the board's opinion, could endanger a patient's life;
(5) commits unprofessional or dishonorable conduct
that is likely to deceive or defraud the public, as provided by
Section 164.053, or injure the public;
(6) uses an advertising statement that is false,
misleading, or deceptive;
(7) advertises professional superiority or the
performance of professional service in a superior manner if that
advertising is not readily subject to verification;
(8) purchases, sells, barters, or uses, or offers to
purchase, sell, barter, or use, a medical degree, license,
certificate, or diploma, or a transcript of a license, certificate,
or diploma in or incident to an application to the board for a
license to practice medicine;
(9) alters, with fraudulent intent, a medical license,
certificate, or diploma, or a transcript of a medical license,
certificate, or diploma;
(10) uses a medical license, certificate, or diploma,
or a transcript of a medical license, certificate, or diploma that
has been:
(A) fraudulently purchased or issued;
(B) counterfeited; or
(C) materially altered;
(11) impersonates or acts as proxy for another person
in an examination required by this subtitle for a medical license;
(12) engages in conduct that subverts or attempts to
subvert an examination process required by this subtitle for a
medical license;
(13) impersonates a physician or permits another to
use the person's license or certificate to practice medicine in
this state;
(14) directly or indirectly employs a person whose
license to practice medicine has been suspended, canceled, or
revoked;
(15) associates in the practice of medicine with a
person:
(A) whose license to practice medicine has been
suspended, canceled, or revoked; or
(B) who has been convicted of the unlawful
practice of medicine in this state or elsewhere;
(16) performs or procures a criminal abortion, aids or
abets in the procuring of a criminal abortion, attempts to perform
or procure a criminal abortion, or attempts to aid or abet the
performance or procurement of a criminal abortion;
(17) directly or indirectly aids or abets the practice
of medicine by a person, partnership, association, or corporation
that is not licensed to practice medicine by the board;
(18) performs an abortion on a woman who is pregnant
with a viable unborn child during the third trimester of the
pregnancy unless:
(A) the abortion is necessary to protect the
health or prevent the death of the woman;
(B) the viable unborn child has a severe,
irreversible brain impairment; or
(C) the woman is diagnosed with a significant
likelihood of suffering imminent severe, irreversible brain damage
or imminent severe, irreversible paralysis;
(19) performs an abortion on an unemancipated minor
without the written consent of the child's parent, managing
conservator, or legal guardian or without a court order, as
provided by Section 33.003 or 33.004, Family Code, unless the
abortion is necessary due to a medical emergency, as defined by
Section 171.002, Health and Safety Code; or
(20) otherwise performs an abortion on an
unemancipated minor in violation of Chapter 33, Family Code[; or
[(21) performs or induces or attempts to perform or
induce an abortion in violation of Subchapter C, Chapter 171,
Health and Safety Code].
SECTION 8. Section 164.055(b), Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The sanctions provided by Subsection (a) are in addition
to any other grounds for refusal to admit persons to examination
under this subtitle or to issue a license or renew a license to
practice medicine under this subtitle. The criminal penalties
provided by Section 165.152 do not apply to a violation of Section
170.002 [or Subchapter C, Chapter 171], Health and Safety Code.
SECTION 9. The following provisions are repealed:
(1) Section 32.005, Health and Safety Code;
(2) Sections 171.0031, 171.004, 171.012, 171.0121,
171.0122, 171.0123, 171.013, 171.014, 171.015, 171.016, 171.017,
and 171.018, Health and Safety Code;
(3) Subchapters C and D, Chapter 171, Health and
Safety Code;
(4) Sections 241.007, 243.017, 245.010(a), and
245.024, Health and Safety Code; and
(5) Section 164.0551, Occupations Code.
SECTION 10. The changes in law made by this Act apply only
to an abortion performed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An abortion performed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law applicable to the abortion immediately before
the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 11. 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.