Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3321 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	86R13804 LED-F
2	2	By: Burns H.B. No. 3321
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to reporting requirements by certain physicians for
8	8	abortion complications.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 171.006, Health and Safety Code, as
11	11	added by Chapter 4 (H.B. 13), Acts of the 85th Legislature, 1st
12	12	Called Session, 2017, is redesignated as Section 171.007, Health
13	13	and Safety Code, and amended to read as follows:
14	14	Sec. 171.007 [171.006]. ABORTION COMPLICATION REPORTING
15	15	REQUIREMENTS; CIVIL PENALTY. (a) In this section "abortion
16	16	complication" means any harmful event or adverse outcome with
17	17	respect to a patient related to an abortion that is performed on the
18	18	patient and that is diagnosed or treated by a health care
19	19	practitioner or at a health care facility and includes:
20	20	(1) shock;
21	21	(2) uterine perforation;
22	22	(3) cervical laceration;
23	23	(4) hemorrhage;
24	24	(5) aspiration or allergic response;
25	25	(6) infection;
26	26	(7) sepsis;
27	27	(8) death of the patient;
28	28	(9) incomplete abortion;
29	29	(10) damage to the uterus; or
30	30	(11) an infant born alive after the abortion.
31	31	(b) The reporting requirements of this section apply only
32	32	to:
33	33	(1) a physician who:
34	34	(A) performs at an abortion facility an abortion
35	35	that results in an abortion complication diagnosed or treated by
36	36	that physician; [or]
37	37	(B) diagnoses or treats at an abortion facility
38	38	an abortion complication that is the result of an abortion
39	39	performed by another physician at the facility; or
40	40	(C) diagnoses or treats at a public health
41	41	clinic, hospital, or other health care facility an abortion
42	42	complication that the physician knows or reasonably believes is the
43	43	result of an abortion performed by another physician; or
44	44	(2) a health care facility that is a hospital,
45	45	abortion facility, freestanding emergency medical care facility,
46	46	or health care facility that provides emergency medical care, as
47	47	defined by Section 773.003.
48	48	(c) A physician described by Subsection (b)(1) shall
49	49	electronically submit to the commission in the form and manner
50	50	prescribed by commission rule a report on each abortion
51	51	complication diagnosed or treated by that physician not later than
52	52	the end of the third business day after the date on which the
53	53	complication is diagnosed or treated. Each health care facility
54	54	described by Subsection (b)(2) shall electronically submit to the
55	55	commission in the form and manner prescribed by commission rule a
56	56	report on each abortion complication diagnosed or treated at the
57	57	facility not later than the 30th day after the date on which the
58	58	complication is diagnosed or treatment is provided for the
59	59	complication.
60	60	(d) The commission shall develop a form for reporting an
61	61	abortion complication under Subsection (c) and publish the form on
62	62	the commission's Internet website. The executive commissioner by
63	63	rule may adopt procedures to reduce duplication in reporting under
64	64	this section.
65	65	(e) A report under this section may not identify by any
66	66	means the physician performing an abortion, other than a physician
67	67	described by Subsection (b)(1), or the patient on whom the abortion
68	68	was performed.
69	69	(f) A report under this section must identify the name of
70	70	the physician submitting the report or the name and type of health
71	71	care facility submitting the report and must include, if known, for
72	72	each abortion complication:
73	73	(1) the date of the abortion that caused or may have
74	74	caused the complication;
75	75	(2) the type of abortion that caused or may have caused
76	76	the complication;
77	77	(3) the gestational age of the fetus at the time the
78	78	abortion was performed;
79	79	(4) the name and type of the facility in which the
80	80	abortion was performed;
81	81	(5) the date the complication was diagnosed or
82	82	treated;
83	83	(6) the name and type of any facility other than the
84	84	reporting facility in which the complication was diagnosed or
85	85	treated;
86	86	(7) a description of the complication;
87	87	(8) the patient's year of birth, race, marital status,
88	88	and state and county of residence;
89	89	(9) the date of the first day of the patient's last
90	90	menstrual period that occurred before the date of the abortion that
91	91	caused or may have caused the complication;
92	92	(10) the number of previous live births of the
93	93	patient; and
94	94	(11) the number of previous induced abortions of the
95	95	patient.
96	96	(g) Except as provided by Section 245.023, all information
97	97	and records held by the commission under this section are
98	98	confidential and are not open records for the purposes of Chapter
99	99	552, Government Code. That information may not be released or made
100	100	public on subpoena or otherwise, except release may be made:
101	101	(1) for statistical purposes, but only if a person,
102	102	patient, or health care facility is not identified;
103	103	(2) with the consent of each person, patient, and
104	104	facility identified in the information released;
105	105	(3) to medical personnel, appropriate state agencies,
106	106	or county and district courts to enforce this chapter; or
107	107	(4) to appropriate state licensing boards to enforce
108	108	state licensing laws.
109	109	(h) A report submitted under this section must include the
110	110	most specific, accurate, and complete reporting for the highest
111	111	level of specificity.
112	112	(i) The commission shall develop and publish on the
113	113	commission's Internet website an annual report that aggregates on a
114	114	statewide basis each abortion complication required to be reported
115	115	under Subsection (f) for the previous calendar year. The annual
116	116	report may not include any duplicative data.
117	117	(j) A physician described by Subsection (b)(1) or health
118	118	care facility that violates this section is subject to a civil
119	119	penalty of $500 for each violation. The attorney general, at the
120	120	request of the commission or appropriate licensing agency, may file
121	121	an action to recover a civil penalty assessed under this subsection
122	122	and may recover attorney's fees and costs incurred in bringing the
123	123	action. Each day of a continuing violation constitutes a separate
124	124	ground for recovery.
125	125	(k) The third separate violation of this section
126	126	constitutes cause for the revocation or suspension of a physician's
127	127	or health care facility's license, permit, registration,
128	128	certificate, or other authority or for other disciplinary action
129	129	against the physician or facility by the appropriate licensing
130	130	agency.
131	131	(l) The commission shall notify the Texas Medical Board of
132	132	any violations of this section by a physician.
133	133	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.