Texas 2021 - 87th 1st C.S.

Texas House Bill HB251 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87S10010 KKR-F
2	2	By: Leach H.B. No. 251
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to a required resource access assistance offer before an
8	8	abortion is performed or induced.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 171, Health and Safety
11	11	Code, is amended by adding Section 171.01205 to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 171.01205. REQUIRED PRE-ABORTION RESOURCE ACCESS
13	13	ASSISTANCE OFFER. (a) In addition to the informed consent
14	14	requirements under Section 171.012, except during a medical
15	15	emergency, and before the abortion is performed or induced, the
16	16	physician who is to perform or induce an abortion shall confirm the
17	17	pregnant woman received a resource access assistance offer, as
18	18	required by this section, by verifying the unique identifying
19	19	number, devoid of the woman's personally identifiable information,
20	20	as provided by the commission.
21	21	(b) A care agent providing a resource access assistance
22	22	offer under this section:
23	23	(1) must be:
24	24	(A) licensed in this state as a counselor,
25	25	physician, psychologist, social worker, nurse, advanced practice
26	26	registered nurse, community health worker, physician's assistant,
27	27	or marriage and family therapist; or
28	28	(B) acting under the supervision of an individual
29	29	described by Paragraph (A);
30	30	(2) must:
31	31	(A) be authorized under a contract with the
32	32	commission to provide resource access assistance offers and support
33	33	services on behalf of this state in accordance with this section;
34	34	(B) complete a training program on identifying
35	35	and assisting victims of human trafficking using a standardized
36	36	curriculum created by the human trafficking prevention task force
37	37	established under Section 402.035, Government Code; and
38	38	(C) comply with medical records privacy laws
39	39	under Chapter 181;
40	40	(3) in the two years preceding the offer may not:
41	41	(A) have performed or induced an abortion; or
42	42	(B) have served as a director, board member,
43	43	officer, volunteer, or employee for an abortion facility licensed
44	44	under Chapter 245; and
45	45	(4) may not refer a woman to an abortion provider.
46	46	(c) The resource access assistance offer must be provided by
47	47	and on behalf of this state at no cost to the pregnant woman from a
48	48	care agent who meets the qualifications described by Subsection
49	49	(b). The care agent during the resource access assistance offer
50	50	shall provide:
51	51	(1) medically accurate information using the
52	52	informational materials described by Section 171.014;
53	53	(2) an assessment of eligibility for and offer of
54	54	assistance in obtaining support services other than abortion for
55	55	the woman or unborn child's biological father, including housing,
56	56	employment, resume development, child care, prenatal and
57	57	postpartum medical care, mental health or behavioral counseling,
58	58	adoption services, financial assistance, abuse or neglect
59	59	prevention assistance, substance or alcohol abuse prevention
60	60	assistance, and health benefit plan coverage;
61	61	(3) education on available public and private
62	62	resources to address the woman's or biological father's
63	63	socioeconomic needs; and
64	64	(4) screening for:
65	65	(A) family violence, abuse, and neglect
66	66	victimization;
67	67	(B) coercion of abortion; and
68	68	(C) human trafficking victimization.
69	69	(d) A care agent who obtains information that the pregnant
70	70	woman is a victim of human trafficking or coercion of abortion may:
71	71	(1) submit a report to the appropriate law enforcement
72	72	agency of the suspected human trafficking or coercion of abortion,
73	73	if, before submitting the report, the care agent:
74	74	(A) provides to the pregnant woman a written
75	75	disclosure that the woman's identifying information will be
76	76	provided in the report; and
77	77	(B) after receiving the written disclosure
78	78	described by Paragraph (A), the pregnant woman consents to the care
79	79	agent submitting the report; or
80	80	(2) provide to the pregnant woman information on the
81	81	methods available for the woman to report human trafficking or
82	82	coercion of abortion to the appropriate law enforcement agency.
83	83	(e) A care agent shall request a unique identifying number,
84	84	devoid of the pregnant woman's personally identifiable
85	85	information, from the system developed by the commission to certify
86	86	that the woman received the resource access assistance offer.
87	87	(f) The commission shall develop and maintain an
88	88	authentication system that provides the pregnant woman a unique
89	89	identifying number required under this section. The system must:
90	90	(1) allow a care agent to request a unique identifying
91	91	number for the pregnant woman;
92	92	(2) allow a physician who is to perform or induce an
93	93	abortion to verify the unique identifying number;
94	94	(3) ensure that the identity of an individual pregnant
95	95	woman, care agent, or physician, who is to perform or induce the
96	96	abortion, is not disclosed in the authentication system; and
97	97	(4) remove any individually identifying information
98	98	of the pregnant woman, care agent, or physician as soon as the
99	99	information is not needed to verify the unique identifying number.
100	100	(g) The commission shall establish a single toll-free
101	101	telephone number through which a woman seeking an abortion in this
102	102	state may receive a resource access assistance offer on a 24-hour
103	103	basis. The commission must ensure the placed call automatically
104	104	routes the woman to a care agent at a contracting agency to provide
105	105	the resource access assistance offer.
106	106	(h) The pregnant woman:
107	107	(1) is not required to:
108	108	(A) provide any information to the care agent or
109	109	contracting agency; or
110	110	(B) initiate or complete services offered under
111	111	this section to obtain an abortion;
112	112	(2) may decline services under this section at any
113	113	time; and
114	114	(3) if accepting a resource assistance offer, shall
115	115	retain access to the offer until the second anniversary of the date
116	116	of acceptance, regardless of the woman's pregnancy.
117	117	SECTION 2. Section 171.0121, Health and Safety Code, is
118	118	amended to read as follows:
119	119	Sec. 171.0121. MEDICAL RECORD. (a) Before the abortion
120	120	begins, a copy of the signed, written certification received by the
121	121	physician under Section 171.012(a)(6) and documentation of the
122	122	receipt of the resource access assistance offer required under
123	123	Section 171.01205 must be placed in the pregnant woman's medical
124	124	records.
125	125	(b) A copy of the signed, written certification required
126	126	under Sections 171.012(a)(5) and (6) and documentation of the
127	127	receipt of the resource access assistance offer required under
128	128	Section 171.01205 shall be retained by the facility where the
129	129	abortion is performed until:
130	130	(1) the seventh anniversary of the date it is signed;
131	131	or
132	132	(2) if the pregnant woman is a minor, the later of:
133	133	(A) the seventh anniversary of the date it is
134	134	signed; or
135	135	(B) the woman's 21st birthday.
136	136	SECTION 3. (a) Notwithstanding Section 171.01205, Health
137	137	and Safety Code, as added by this Act, and Section 171.0121, Health
138	138	and Safety Code, as amended by this Act, a physician is not required
139	139	to comply with the changes in law made by this Act before April 1,
140	140	2023.
141	141	(b) Not later than August 31, 2022, the executive
142	142	commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall
143	143	adopt rules as necessary to implement this Act.
144	144	(c) Not later than April 1, 2023, the Health and Human
145	145	Services Commission shall contract with one or more contracting
146	146	agencies that employ care agents throughout this state to provide
147	147	the pre-abortion resource access assistance offer and assistance in
148	148	obtaining support services described by Section 171.01205, Health
149	149	and Safety Code, as added by this Act.
150	150	SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
151	151	an abortion performed or induced on or after April 1, 2023. An
152	152	abortion performed or induced before April 1, 2023, is governed by
153	153	the law applicable to the abortion immediately before the effective
154	154	date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that
155	155	purpose.
156	156	SECTION 5. It is the intent of the legislature that every
157	157	provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word
158	158	in this Act, and every application of the provisions in this Act to
159	159	each person or entity, are severable from each other. If any
160	160	application of any provision in this Act to any person, group of
161	161	persons, or circumstances is found by a court to be invalid for any
162	162	reason, the remaining applications of that provision to all other
163	163	persons and circumstances shall be severed and may not be affected.
164	164	SECTION 6. The Health and Human Services Commission is
165	165	required to implement this Act only if the legislature appropriates
166	166	money specifically for that purpose. If the legislature does not
167	167	appropriate money specifically for that purpose, the commission
168	168	may, but is not required to, implement the Act using other
169	169	appropriations available for the purpose.
170	170	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect on the 91st day after the
171	171	last day of the legislative session.