Texas 2021 - 87th 1st C.S.

Texas House Bill HB6 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87S10016 SCL-F
2	2	By: Klick H.B. No. 6
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to abortion complication reporting and the regulation of
8	8	drug-induced abortion procedures, providers, and facilities;
9	9	creating a criminal offense.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. The legislature finds that:
12	12	(1) this state has an interest in protecting the
13	13	health and welfare of every woman considering a drug-induced
14	14	abortion;
15	15	(2) the use of Mifeprex or mifepristone presents
16	16	significant medical complications including, but not limited to,
17	17	uterine hemorrhage, viral infections, abdominal pain, cramping,
18	18	vomiting, headache, fatigue, and pelvic inflammatory disease; and
19	19	(3) the failure rate and risk of complications
20	20	increases with advancing gestational age.
21	21	SECTION 2. Sections 171.006(a) and (b), Health and Safety
22	22	Code, as added by Chapter 4 (H.B. 13), Acts of the 85th Legislature,
23	23	1st Called Session, 2017, are amended to read as follows:
24	24	(a) In this section, "abortion complication" or "adverse
25	25	event" means any harmful event or adverse outcome with respect to a
26	26	patient related to an abortion that is performed or induced on the
27	27	patient and that is diagnosed or treated by a health care
28	28	practitioner or at a health care facility and includes:
29	29	(1) shock;
30	30	(2) uterine perforation;
31	31	(3) cervical laceration;
32	32	(4) hemorrhage;
33	33	(5) aspiration or allergic response;
34	34	(6) infection;
35	35	(7) sepsis;
36	36	(8) death of the patient;
37	37	(9) incomplete abortion;
38	38	(10) damage to the uterus; [or]
39	39	(11) an infant born alive after the abortion;
40	40	(12) blood clots resulting in pulmonary embolism or
41	41	deep vein thrombosis;
42	42	(13) failure to actually terminate the pregnancy;
43	43	(14) pelvic inflammatory disease;
44	44	(15) endometritis;
45	45	(16) missed ectopic pregnancy;
46	46	(17) cardiac arrest;
47	47	(18) respiratory arrest;
48	48	(19) renal failure;
49	49	(20) metabolic disorder;
50	50	(21) embolism;
51	51	(22) coma;
52	52	(23) placenta previa in subsequent pregnancies;
53	53	(24) preterm delivery in subsequent pregnancies;
54	54	(25) fluid accumulation in the abdomen;
55	55	(26) hemolytic reaction resulting from the
56	56	administration of ABO-incompatible blood or blood products;
57	57	(27) adverse reactions to anesthesia or other drugs;
58	58	or
59	59	(28) any other adverse event as defined by the United
60	60	States Food and Drug Administration's criteria provided by the
61	61	MedWatch Reporting System.
62	62	(b) The reporting requirements of this section apply only
63	63	to:
64	64	(1) a physician who:
65	65	(A) performs or induces at an abortion facility
66	66	an abortion that results in an abortion complication diagnosed or
67	67	treated by that physician; or
68	68	(B) diagnoses or treats [at an abortion facility]
69	69	an abortion complication that is the result of an abortion
70	70	performed or induced by another physician [at the facility]; or
71	71	(2) a health care facility that is a hospital,
72	72	abortion facility, freestanding emergency medical care facility,
73	73	or health care facility that provides emergency medical care, as
74	74	defined by Section 773.003.
75	75	SECTION 3. Section 171.061, Health and Safety Code, is
76	76	amended by amending Subdivisions (2) and (5) and adding
77	77	Subdivisions (2-a) and (8-a) to read as follows:
78	78	(2) "Abortion-inducing drug" means a drug, a medicine,
79	79	or any other substance, including a regimen of two or more drugs,
80	80	medicines, or substances, prescribed, dispensed, or administered
81	81	with the intent of terminating a clinically diagnosable pregnancy
82	82	of a woman and with knowledge that the termination will, with
83	83	reasonable likelihood, cause the death of the woman's unborn child.
84	84	The term includes off-label use of drugs, medicines, or other
85	85	substances known to have abortion-inducing properties that are
86	86	prescribed, dispensed, or administered with the intent of causing
87	87	an abortion, including the Mifeprex regimen, misoprostol
88	88	(Cytotec), and methotrexate. The term does not include a drug,
89	89	medicine, or other substance that may be known to cause an abortion
90	90	but is prescribed, dispensed, or administered for other medical
91	91	reasons.
92	92	(2-a) "Adverse event" or "abortion complication"
93	93	means any harmful event or adverse outcome with respect to a patient
94	94	related to an abortion, including the abortion complications listed
95	95	in Section 171.006, as added by Chapter 4 (H.B. 13), Acts of the
96	96	85th Legislature, 1st Called Session, 2017.
97	97	(5) "Medical abortion" means the administration or use
98	98	of an abortion-inducing drug to induce an abortion, and may also be
99	99	referred to as a "medication abortion," a "chemical abortion," a
100	100	"drug-induced abortion," "RU-486," or the "Mifeprex regimen".
101	101	(8-a) "Provide" means, as used with regard to
102	102	abortion-inducing drugs, any act of giving, selling, dispensing,
103	103	administering, transferring possession, or otherwise providing or
104	104	prescribing an abortion-inducing drug.
105	105	SECTION 4. Section 171.063, Health and Safety Code, is
106	106	amended by amending Subsections (a), (c), and (e) and adding
107	107	Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
108	108	(a) A person may not knowingly [give, sell, dispense,
109	109	administer,] provide[, or prescribe] an abortion-inducing drug to a
110	110	pregnant woman for the purpose of inducing an abortion in the
111	111	pregnant woman or enabling another person to induce an abortion in
112	112	the pregnant woman unless:
113	113	(1) the person who [gives, sells, dispenses,
114	114	administers,] provides[, or prescribes] the abortion-inducing drug
115	115	is a physician; and
116	116	(2) [except as otherwise provided by Subsection (b),]
117	117	the provision[, prescription, or administration] of the
118	118	abortion-inducing drug satisfies the protocol [tested and]
119	119	authorized by this subchapter [the United States Food and Drug
120	120	Administration as outlined in the final printed label of the
121	121	abortion-inducing drug].
122	122	(b-1) A manufacturer, supplier, physician, or any other
123	123	person may not provide to a patient any abortion-inducing drug by
124	124	courier, delivery, or mail service.
125	125	(c) Before the physician [gives, sells, dispenses,
126	126	administers,] provides[, or prescribes] an abortion-inducing drug,
127	127	the physician must:
128	128	(1) examine the pregnant woman in person;
129	129	(2) independently verify that a pregnancy exists;
130	130	(3) [and] document, in the woman's medical record, the
131	131	gestational age and intrauterine location of the pregnancy to
132	132	determine whether an ectopic pregnancy exists;
133	133	(4) determine the pregnant woman's blood type, and for
134	134	a woman who is Rh negative, offer to administer Rh immunoglobulin
135	135	(RhoGAM) at the time the abortion-inducing drug is administered or
136	136	the abortion is performed or induced to prevent Rh incompatibility,
137	137	complications, or miscarriage in future pregnancies;
138	138	(5) document whether the pregnant woman received
139	139	treatment for Rh negativity, as diagnosed by the most accurate
140	140	standard of medical care; and
141	141	(6) ensure the physician does not provide an
142	142	abortion-inducing drug for a pregnant woman whose pregnancy is more
143	143	than 49 days of gestational age.
144	144	(e) A [The] physician who [gives, sells, dispenses,
145	145	administers,] provides[, or prescribes] the abortion-inducing
146	146	drug, or the physician's agent, must schedule a follow-up visit for
147	147	the woman to occur not later [more] than the 14th day [14 days]
148	148	after the earliest date on which the abortion-inducing drug is
149	149	administered [administration] or used or the abortion is performed
150	150	or induced [use of the drug]. At the follow-up visit, the physician
151	151	must:
152	152	(1) confirm that the woman's pregnancy is completely
153	153	terminated; and
154	154	(2) assess any continued blood loss [the degree of
155	155	bleeding].
156	156	SECTION 5. Subchapter D, Chapter 171, Health and Safety
157	157	Code, is amended by adding Sections 171.0631, 171.0632, 171.065,
158	158	and 171.066 to read as follows:
159	159	Sec. 171.0631. VOLUNTARY AND INFORMED CONSENT REQUIRED. A
160	160	person may not provide an abortion-inducing drug to a pregnant
161	161	woman without satisfying the applicable informed consent
162	162	requirements of Subchapter B.
163	163	Sec. 171.0632. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. A physician who
164	164	provides an abortion-inducing drug must comply with the applicable
165	165	physician reporting requirements under Section 245.011.
166	166	Sec. 171.065. CRIMINAL OFFENSE. (a) A person who
167	167	intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly violates this subchapter
168	168	commits an offense. An offense under this subsection is a state
169	169	jail felony.
170	170	(b) A pregnant woman on whom a drug-induced abortion is
171	171	attempted, induced, or performed in violation of this subchapter is
172	172	not criminally liable for the violation.
173	173	(c) Conduct constituting an offense under this section may
174	174	also be the basis for an administrative violation under Section
175	175	171.064.
176	176	Sec. 171.066. ENFORCEMENT OF SUBCHAPTER. A state executive
177	177	or administrative official may not decline to enforce this
178	178	subchapter, or adopt a construction of this subchapter in a way that
179	179	narrows its applicability, based on the official's own beliefs on
180	180	the requirements of the state or federal constitution, unless the
181	181	official is enjoined by a state or federal court from enforcing this
182	182	subchapter.
183	183	SECTION 6. The following provisions of the Health and
184	184	Safety Code are repealed:
185	185	(1) Sections 171.061(3) and (6); and
186	186	(2) Section 171.063(b).
187	187	SECTION 7. (a) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as
188	188	creating or recognizing a right to abortion.
189	189	(b) It is not the intention of this Act to make lawful an
190	190	abortion that is otherwise unlawful.
191	191	(c) Nothing in this Act repeals, replaces, or otherwise
192	192	invalidates existing Texas laws, regulations, or policies.
193	193	SECTION 8. Any provision of this Act held to be invalid or
194	194	unenforceable by its terms or as applied to any person or
195	195	circumstance shall be construed to give the provision the maximum
196	196	effect permitted by law, unless such holding is one of utter
197	197	invalidity or unenforceability, in which event the provision shall
198	198	be considered severable from the other provisions of this Act and
199	199	shall not affect the remainder or the application of the provisions
200	200	to other persons not similarly situated or to other, dissimilar
201	201	circumstances.
202	202	SECTION 9. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
203	203	section, the changes in law made by this Act apply only to an
204	204	abortion performed or induced on or after the effective date of this
205	205	Act.
206	206	(b) Section 171.065, Health and Safety Code, as added by
207	207	this Act, applies only to an abortion performed or induced on or
208	208	after December 1, 2021.
209	209	SECTION 10. This Act takes effect immediately if it
210	210	receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
211	211	house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
212	212	If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
213	213	effect, this Act takes effect on the 91st day after the last day of
214	214	the legislative session.