H.B. No. 215
AN ACT
relating to reporting and certification requirements by certain
physicians regarding certain abortions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 170.002(c), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) A physician who performs an abortion that, according to
the physician's best medical judgment at the time of the abortion,
is to abort a viable unborn child during the third trimester of the
pregnancy shall certify in writing to the commission [department],
on a form prescribed by the commission [department], the medical
indications supporting the physician's judgment that the abortion
was authorized by Subsection (b)(2) or (3). If the physician
certifies the abortion was authorized by Subsection (b)(3), the
physician shall certify in writing on the form the fetal
abnormality identified by the physician. The certification must be
made not later than the 30th day after the date the abortion was
performed.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 171, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 171.006 to read as follows:
Sec. 171.006. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR ABORTIONS
PERFORMED ON WOMEN YOUNGER THAN 18 YEARS OF AGE. (a) For each
abortion performed on a woman who is younger than 18 years of age,
the physician who performed the abortion shall document in the
woman's medical record and report to the commission in the report
required under Section 245.011:
(1) one of the following methods for obtaining
authorization for the abortion:
(A) the woman's parent, managing conservator, or
legal guardian provided the written consent required by Section
164.052(a)(19), Occupations Code;
(B) the woman obtained judicial authorization
under Section 33.003 or 33.004, Family Code;
(C) the woman consented to the abortion if the
woman has had the disabilities of minority removed and is
authorized under law to have the abortion without the written
consent required by Section 164.052(a)(19), Occupations Code, or
without judicial authorization under Section 33.003 or 33.004,
Family Code; or
(D) the physician concluded and documented in
writing in the woman's medical record that on the basis of the
physician's good faith clinical judgment:
(i) a condition existed that complicated
the medical condition of the woman and necessitated the immediate
abortion of the woman's pregnancy to avert the woman's death or to
avoid a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily
function; and
(ii) there was insufficient time to obtain
the consent of the woman's parent, managing conservator, or legal
guardian;
(2) if the woman's parent, managing conservator, or
legal guardian provided the written consent described by
Subdivision (1)(A), whether the consent was given:
(A) in person at the location where the abortion
was performed; or
(B) at a place other than the location where the
abortion was performed; and
(3) if the woman obtained the judicial authorization
described by Subdivision (1)(B):
(A) if applicable, the process the physician or
physician's agent used to inform the woman of the availability of
petitioning for judicial authorization as an alternative to the
written consent required by Section 164.052(a)(19), Occupations
Code;
(B) whether the court forms were provided to the
woman by the physician or the physician's agent;
(C) whether the physician or the physician's
agent made arrangements for the woman's court appearance; and
(D) if known, whether the woman became pregnant
while in foster care or in the managing conservatorship of the
Department of Family and Protective Services.
(b) Except as provided by Section 245.023, all information
and records held by the commission under this section are
confidential and are not open records for the purposes of Chapter
552, Government Code. That information may not be released or made
public on subpoena or otherwise, except release may be made:
(1) for statistical purposes, but only if a person,
patient, or health care facility is not identified;
(2) with the consent of each person, patient, and
facility identified in the information released;
(3) to appropriate state agencies or county and
district courts to enforce this chapter;
(4) to appropriate state licensing boards to enforce
state licensing laws; or
(5) to licensed medical or health care personnel
currently treating the patient.
(c) Any information released by the commission may not
identify by any means the county in which a minor obtained judicial
authorization for an abortion under Chapter 33, Family Code.
SECTION 3. Section 170.002, Health and Safety Code, as
amended by this Act, and Section 171.006, Health and Safety Code, as
added by this Act, apply only to an abortion performed on or after
December 1, 2017. An abortion performed before December 1, 2017, 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 4. 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 on the 91st day after the last day of the
legislative session.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 215 was passed by the House on August
4, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 97, Nays 46, 1 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 215 was passed by the Senate on August
15, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 22, Nays 9.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor