87R10301 TYPED
By: Leach H.B. No. 2313
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a required resource access assistance offer before an
abortion is performed.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 171, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 171.01205 to read as follows:
Sec. 171.01205. REQUIRED PRE-ABORTION RESOURCE ACCESS
ASSISTANCE OFFER. (a) In addition to the informed consent
requirements under Section 171.012, except during a medical
emergency, and before the abortion is performed, the physician who
is to perform an abortion shall confirm the pregnant woman received
a pre-abortion resource access assistance offer, as required by
this section, by:
(1) verifying that the unique identifying number
provided to the woman as required by Subsection (d) is recorded in a
secure database maintained by the commission; and
(2) documenting the pregnant woman's unique
identifying number in the woman's medical record.
(b) A care agent providing a resource access assistance
offer under this section:
(1) must be:
(A) licensed as a counselor, doctor,
psychologist, social worker, nurse, advanced practice registered
nurse, community health worker, physician's assistant, or marriage
and family therapist; or
(B) acting under the supervision of an individual
described by Paragraph (A);
(2) must not:
(A) have performed an abortion in the last two
years;
(B) have served as a director, board member,
officer, volunteer, or employee for an abortion facility licensed
under Chapter 245;
(3) may not refer women to an abortion provider,
recommend abortion, or take any other action that directly or
indirectly advises or assists a woman in obtaining an abortion;
(4) must be authorized under a contract with the
commission to provide resource access assistance offers and support
services on behalf of this state in accordance with this section;
and
(5) must complete a training program on identifying
and assisting victims of human trafficking using a standardized
curriculum created by the human trafficking prevention task force
established under Section 402.035, Government Code.
(c) The resource access assistance offer must be provided by
and on behalf of this state at no cost to the pregnant woman from a
care agent who meets the qualifications described by Subsection
(b). The care agent during a resource access assistance offer shall
provide:
(1) medically accurate information using the
informational materials described by Section 171.014;
(2) an assessment of eligibility for and offer of
assistance in obtaining support services other than abortion for
the pregnant woman or unborn child's biological father, including
housing, employment, resume development, child care, prenatal and
postpartum medical care, mental health or behavioral counselling,
adoption services, financial assistance, abuse or neglect
prevention assistance, substance or alcohol abuse prevention
assistance, and health benefit plan coverage;
(3) education on available public and private
resources to address the pregnant woman's or biological father's
socioeconomic needs; and
(4) screening for:
(A) family violence, abuse, and neglect
victimization;
(B) coercion of abortion; and
(C) human trafficking victimization.
(d) After providing the resource access assistance offer,
the care agent or the contracting agency that employs the care agent
shall:
(1) certify to the commission using a unique
identifying number, devoid of personally identifying information
of the pregnant woman, that the pregnant woman received the
resource access assistance offer; and
(2) provide to the pregnant woman the identifying
number described by Subdivision (1).
(e) A care agent shall report to the commission
de-identified demographic information obtained through a resource
access assistance offer provided under this section to assist the
commission in determining the supply and demand of social services
in the pregnant woman's geographic region.
(f) The commission shall develop and maintain on the
commission's Internet website a secure database to store the unique
identifying numbers provided under Subsection (d) and that allows
the care agent to submit the de-identified information required
under Subsection (e).
(g) The commission shall establish a single toll-free
telephone number through which a woman seeking an abortion in this
state may receive a resource access assistance offer on a 24-hour
basis. The commission must ensure the placed call automatically
routes the woman to a care agent at a contracting agency to provide
the resource access assistance offer.
(h) The pregnant woman:
(1) is not required to provide any information to the
care agent or agency;
(2) is not required to initiate or complete services
offered under this section in order to obtain an abortion;
(3) may decline services under this section at any
time; and
(4) if accepting a resource assistance offer, shall
have the offer available for two calendar years regardless of the
pregnant woman's pregnancy.
SECTION 2. Section 171.0121, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 171.0121. MEDICAL RECORD. (a) Before the abortion
begins, a copy of the signed, written certification received by the
physician under Section 171.012(a)(6) and documentation of the
receipt of the resource access assistance offer required under
Section 171.01205 must be placed in the pregnant woman's medical
records.
(b) A copy of the signed, written certification required
under Sections 171.012(a)(5) and (6) and documentation of the
receipt of the resource access assistance offer required under
Section 171.01205 shall be retained by the facility where the
abortion is performed until:
(1) the seventh anniversary of the date it is signed;
or
(2) if the pregnant woman is a minor, the later of:
(A) the seventh anniversary of the date it is
signed; or
(B) the woman's 21st birthday.
SECTION 3. (a) Notwithstanding Section 171.01205, Health
and Safety Code, as added by this Act, and Section 171.0121, Health
and Safety Code, as amended by this Act, a physician is not required
to comply with the changes in law made by this Act before April 1,
2023.
(b) Not later than August 31, 2022, the executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall
adopt rules as necessary to implement this Act.
(c) Not later than April 1, 2023, the Health and Human
Services Commission shall contract with one or more contracting
agencies that employ care agents throughout this state to provide
the pre-abortion resource access assistance offer and assistance in
obtaining support services described by Section 171.01205, Health
and Safety Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an abortion performed on or after April 1, 2023. An abortion
performed before April 1, 2023, 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 5. It is the intent of the legislature that every
provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word
in this Act, and every application of the provisions in this Act to
each person or entity, are severable from each other. If any
application of any provision in this Act to any person, group of
persons, or circumstances is found by a court to be invalid for any
reason, the remaining applications of that provision to all other
persons and circumstances shall be severed and may not be affected.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.