87S10341 SCL-D
By: Perry S.B. No. 33
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to abortion reporting and exemptions to abortion facility
licensing; creating a criminal offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 171, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 171.009 to read as follows:
Sec. 171.009. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR ABORTIONS
PERFORMED OUTSIDE ABORTION FACILITY; CRIMINAL OFFENSE. (a) A
physician who performs an abortion at a location other than an
abortion facility licensed under Chapter 245 must complete and
submit a monthly report to the commission on each abortion
performed by the physician. The report must be submitted on a form
provided by the commission.
(b) The report may not identify by any means the patient.
(c) The report must include:
(1) the type of facility at which the abortion was
performed and the licensing status of that facility;
(2) the patient's year of birth, race, marital status,
and state and county of residence;
(3) the type of abortion procedure performed;
(4) the date the abortion was performed;
(5) whether the patient survived the abortion, and if
the patient did not survive, the cause of death;
(6) the probable post-fertilization age of the unborn
child based on the best medical judgment of the attending physician
at the time of the procedure;
(7) the date, if known, of the patient's last menstrual
cycle;
(8) the number of previous live births of the patient;
(9) the number of previous induced abortions of the
patient; and
(10) the county in which the abortion was performed.
(d) All information and records held by the commission under
this section are confidential and are not open records for the
purposes of Chapter 552, Government Code. That information may not
be released or made public on subpoena or otherwise, except that
release may be made:
(1) for statistical purposes, but only if a person,
patient, or physician performing an abortion is not identified;
(2) with the consent of each person, patient, and
physician identified in the information released;
(3) to medical personnel, appropriate state agencies,
or county and district courts to enforce this chapter; or
(4) to appropriate state licensing boards to enforce
state licensing laws.
(e) A person commits an offense if the person violates
Subsection (b), (c), or (d). An offense under this subsection is a
Class A misdemeanor.
(f) Not later than the 15th day of each month, a physician
shall submit to the commission the report required by this section
for each abortion performed by the physician at a location other
than an abortion facility in the preceding calendar month.
(g) The commission shall establish and maintain a secure
electronic reporting system for the submission of the reports
required by this section. The commission shall adopt procedures to
enforce this section and to ensure that only physicians who perform
one or more abortions during the preceding calendar month are
required to file the reports under this section for that month.
SECTION 2. Section 245.004, Health and Safety Code, as
amended by Chapters 198 (H.B. 2292) and 999 (H.B. 15), Acts of the
78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003, is reenacted and amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 245.004. EXEMPTIONS FROM LICENSING REQUIREMENT. (a)
The following facilities need not be licensed under this chapter:
(1) a hospital licensed under Chapter 241 (Texas
Hospital Licensing Law); [or]
(2) the office of a physician licensed under Subtitle
B, Title 3, Occupations Code, unless the office is used
substantially for the purpose of performing [more than 50]
abortions; or
(3) an ambulatory surgical center licensed under
Chapter 243.
(b) For purposes of this section, a facility is used
substantially for the purpose of performing abortions if the
facility:
(1) is a provider for performing:
(A) at least five [10] abortion procedures during
any month; or
(B) at least 50 [100] abortion procedures in a
12-month period [year];
(2) operates less than 20 days in a month and the
facility, in any month, is a provider for performing a number of
abortion procedures that would be equivalent to at least five [10]
procedures in a month if the facility were operating at least 20
days in a month;
(3) holds itself out to the public as an abortion
provider by advertising by any public means, including advertising
placed in a newspaper, telephone directory, magazine, or electronic
medium, that the facility performs abortions; or
(4) applies for an abortion facility license.
(b-1) In computing the number of abortions performed for
purposes of Subsections (b)(1) and (2), an abortion performed in
accordance with Section 245.016 is not included.
(c) For purposes of this section, an abortion facility is
operating if the facility is open for any period of time during a
day and has on site at the facility or on call a physician available
to perform abortions.
SECTION 3. Section 245.011(c), Health and Safety Code, as
effective September 1, 2021, is amended to read as follows:
(c) The report must include:
(1) whether the abortion facility at which the
abortion is performed is licensed under this chapter;
(2) the patient's year of birth, race, marital status,
and state and county of residence;
(3) the type of abortion procedure performed;
(4) the date the abortion was performed;
(5) whether the patient survived the abortion, and if
the patient did not survive, the cause of death;
(6) the probable post-fertilization age of the unborn
child based on the best medical judgment of the attending physician
at the time of the procedure;
(7) the date, if known, of the patient's last menstrual
cycle;
(8) the number of previous live births of the patient;
(9) the number of previous induced abortions of the
patient;
(10) whether the abortion was performed or induced
because of a medical emergency and any medical condition of the
pregnant woman that required the abortion; [and]
(11) the county in which the abortion was performed;
and
(12) the information required under Sections
171.008(a) and (c).
SECTION 4. Section 245.002, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subdivision (3) to read as follows:
(3) "Commission" means the Health and Human Services
Commission.
SECTION 5. Section 245.0116, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 245.0116. COMMISSION [DEPARTMENT] REPORT. (a) The
commission [department] shall publish on its Internet website a
monthly report containing aggregate data of the information in the
reports submitted under Sections [Section] 171.009 and 245.011. The
report must specify the number of abortions performed in each
county during the reporting period.
(b) The commission's [department's] monthly report may not
identify by any means an abortion facility, a physician performing
the abortion, or a patient.
SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an abortion performed on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect December 1, 2021.