87R9385 SCL-F
By: Hefner H.B. No. 2727
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to voluntary and informed consent to an abortion.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 171.012(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Consent to an abortion is voluntary and informed only
if:
(1) the physician who is to perform the abortion
informs the pregnant woman on whom the abortion is to be performed
of:
(A) the physician's name;
(B) the particular medical risks associated with
the particular abortion procedure to be employed, including, when
medically accurate:
(i) the risks of infection and hemorrhage;
(ii) the potential danger to a subsequent
pregnancy and of infertility; and
(iii) the possibility of increased risk of
breast cancer following an induced abortion and the natural
protective effect of a completed pregnancy in avoiding breast
cancer;
(C) the probable gestational age of the unborn
child at the time the abortion is to be performed; and
(D) the medical risks associated with carrying
the child to term;
(2) the physician who is to perform the abortion or the
physician's agent informs the pregnant woman that:
(A) medical assistance benefits may be available
for prenatal care, childbirth, and neonatal care;
(B) the father is liable for assistance in the
support of the child without regard to whether the father has
offered to pay for the abortion; [and]
(C) public and private agencies provide
pregnancy prevention counseling and medical referrals for
obtaining pregnancy prevention medications or devices, including
emergency contraception for victims of rape or incest; and
(D) a person commits a criminal offense if the
person causes or threatens bodily injury to a pregnant woman to
force the woman to have an abortion;
(3) the physician who is to perform the abortion or the
physician's agent:
(A) provides the pregnant woman with the printed
materials described by Section 171.014; and
(B) informs the pregnant woman that those
materials:
(i) have been provided by the Department of
State Health Services;
(ii) are accessible on an Internet website
sponsored by the department;
(iii) describe the unborn child and list
agencies that offer alternatives to abortion; and
(iv) include a list of agencies that offer
sonogram services at no cost to the pregnant woman;
(4) before any sedative or anesthesia is administered
to the pregnant woman and at least 24 hours before the abortion or
at least two hours before the abortion if the pregnant woman waives
this requirement by certifying that she currently lives 100 miles
or more from the nearest abortion provider that is a facility
licensed under Chapter 245 or a facility that performs more than 50
abortions in any 12-month period:
(A) the physician who is to perform the abortion
or an agent of the physician who is also a sonographer certified by
a national registry of medical sonographers performs a sonogram on
the pregnant woman on whom the abortion is to be performed;
(B) the physician who is to perform the abortion
displays the sonogram images in a quality consistent with current
medical practice in a manner that the pregnant woman may view them;
(C) the physician who is to perform the abortion
provides, in a manner understandable to a layperson, a verbal
explanation of the results of the sonogram images, including a
medical description of the dimensions of the embryo or fetus, the
presence of cardiac activity, and the presence of external members
and internal organs; and
(D) the physician who is to perform the abortion
or an agent of the physician who is also a sonographer certified by
a national registry of medical sonographers makes audible the heart
auscultation for the pregnant woman to hear, if present, in a
quality consistent with current medical practice and provides, in a
manner understandable to a layperson, a simultaneous verbal
explanation of the heart auscultation;
(5) before receiving a sonogram under Subdivision
(4)(A) and before the abortion is performed and before any sedative
or anesthesia is administered, the pregnant woman completes and
certifies with her signature an election form that states as
follows:
"ABORTION AND SONOGRAM ELECTION
(1) THE INFORMATION AND PRINTED MATERIALS DESCRIBED BY
SECTIONS 171.012(a)(1)-(3), TEXAS HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE, HAVE BEEN
PROVIDED AND EXPLAINED TO ME.
(2) I UNDERSTAND THE NATURE AND CONSEQUENCES OF AN
ABORTION.
(3) TEXAS LAW REQUIRES THAT I RECEIVE A SONOGRAM PRIOR
TO RECEIVING AN ABORTION.
(4) I UNDERSTAND THAT I HAVE THE OPTION TO VIEW THE
SONOGRAM IMAGES.
(5) I UNDERSTAND THAT I HAVE THE OPTION TO HEAR THE
HEARTBEAT.
(6) I UNDERSTAND THAT I AM REQUIRED BY LAW TO HEAR AN
EXPLANATION OF THE SONOGRAM IMAGES UNLESS I CERTIFY IN WRITING TO
ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:
___ I AM PREGNANT AS A RESULT OF A SEXUAL ASSAULT,
INCEST, OR OTHER VIOLATION OF THE TEXAS PENAL CODE THAT HAS BEEN
REPORTED TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES OR THAT HAS NOT BEEN
REPORTED BECAUSE I REASONABLY BELIEVE THAT DOING SO WOULD PUT ME AT
RISK OF RETALIATION RESULTING IN SERIOUS BODILY INJURY.
___ I AM A MINOR AND OBTAINING AN ABORTION IN ACCORDANCE
WITH JUDICIAL BYPASS PROCEDURES UNDER CHAPTER 33, TEXAS FAMILY
CODE.
___ MY FETUS HAS AN IRREVERSIBLE MEDICAL CONDITION OR
ABNORMALITY, AS IDENTIFIED BY RELIABLE DIAGNOSTIC PROCEDURES AND
DOCUMENTED IN MY MEDICAL FILE.
(7) I UNDERSTAND THAT A PERSON VIOLATES THE TEXAS
PENAL CODE BY CAUSING OR THREATENING BODILY INJURY TO A PREGNANT
WOMAN TO FORCE THE WOMAN TO HAVE AN ABORTION AND THAT I HAVE A RIGHT
TO CONTACT ANY LOCAL OR STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO RECEIVE
PROTECTION FROM ANY ACTUAL OR THREATENED PHYSICAL ABUSE OR
VIOLENCE, WHICH IS CONDUCT CLASSIFIED AS AN ASSAULT UNDER THE TEXAS
PENAL CODE.
(8) [(7)] I AM MAKING THIS ELECTION OF MY OWN FREE WILL
AND WITHOUT COERCION.
(9) [(8)] FOR A WOMAN WHO LIVES 100 MILES OR MORE FROM
THE NEAREST ABORTION PROVIDER THAT IS A FACILITY LICENSED UNDER
CHAPTER 245 OR A FACILITY THAT PERFORMS MORE THAN 50 ABORTIONS IN
ANY 12-MONTH PERIOD ONLY:
I CERTIFY THAT, BECAUSE I CURRENTLY LIVE 100 MILES OR
MORE FROM THE NEAREST ABORTION PROVIDER THAT IS A FACILITY LICENSED
UNDER CHAPTER 245 OR A FACILITY THAT PERFORMS MORE THAN 50 ABORTIONS
IN ANY 12-MONTH PERIOD, I WAIVE THE REQUIREMENT TO WAIT 24 HOURS
AFTER THE SONOGRAM IS PERFORMED BEFORE RECEIVING THE ABORTION
PROCEDURE. MY PLACE OF RESIDENCE IS:__________.
____________________
____________________
SIGNATURE DATE";
(6) before the abortion is performed, the physician
who is to perform the abortion receives a copy of the signed,
written certification required by Subdivision (5); and
(7) the pregnant woman is provided the name of each
person who provides or explains the information required under this
subsection.
SECTION 2. Sections 171.014(a) and (f), Health and Safety
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The department shall publish informational materials
that include:
(1) the information required to be provided under
Sections 171.012(a)(1)(B) and (D) and (a)(2)(A), (B), [and] (C),
and (D); and
(2) the materials required by Sections 171.015 and
171.016.
(f) In addition to any other organization or entity, the
department shall use the American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists as the resource in developing information required to
be provided under Sections 171.012(a)(1)(B) and (D), Sections
171.012(a)(2)(A), (B), [and] (C), and (D), and Section 171.016, and
in maintaining the department's Internet website.
SECTION 3. (a) By not later than December 1, 2021, the
Health and Human Services Commission shall:
(1) revise the informational materials the commission
is required to publish under Section 171.014, Health and Safety
Code, as amended by this Act; and
(2) make the materials available for distribution.
(b) The changes in law made by this Act apply only to the
information a physician is required to provide under Section
171.012, Health and Safety Code, as amended by this Act, on or after
January 1, 2022.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.