Texas 2021 - 87th 2nd C.S.

Texas House Bill HB6 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87S20001 SCL-D
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. The heading to Section 171.063, Health and
106	106	Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
107	107	Sec. 171.063. PROVISION [DISTRIBUTION] OF
108	108	ABORTION-INDUCING DRUG.
109	109	SECTION 5. Section 171.063, Health and Safety Code, is
110	110	amended by amending Subsections (a), (c), and (e) and adding
111	111	Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
112	112	(a) A person may not knowingly [give, sell, dispense,
113	113	administer,] provide[, or prescribe] an abortion-inducing drug to a
114	114	pregnant woman for the purpose of inducing an abortion in the
115	115	pregnant woman or enabling another person to induce an abortion in
116	116	the pregnant woman unless:
117	117	(1) the person who [gives, sells, dispenses,
118	118	administers,] provides[, or prescribes] the abortion-inducing drug
119	119	is a physician; and
120	120	(2) [except as otherwise provided by Subsection (b),]
121	121	the provision[, prescription, or administration] of the
122	122	abortion-inducing drug satisfies the protocol [tested and]
123	123	authorized by this subchapter [the United States Food and Drug
124	124	Administration as outlined in the final printed label of the
125	125	abortion-inducing drug].
126	126	(b-1) A manufacturer, supplier, physician, or any other
127	127	person may not provide to a patient any abortion-inducing drug by
128	128	courier, delivery, or mail service.
129	129	(c) Before the physician [gives, sells, dispenses,
130	130	administers,] provides[, or prescribes] an abortion-inducing drug,
131	131	the physician must:
132	132	(1) examine the pregnant woman in person;
133	133	(2) independently verify that a pregnancy exists;
134	134	(3) [and] document, in the woman's medical record, the
135	135	gestational age and intrauterine location of the pregnancy to
136	136	determine whether an ectopic pregnancy exists;
137	137	(4) determine the pregnant woman's blood type, and for
138	138	a woman who is Rh negative, offer to administer Rh immunoglobulin
139	139	(RhoGAM) at the time the abortion-inducing drug is administered or
140	140	used or the abortion is performed or induced to prevent Rh
141	141	incompatibility, complications, or miscarriage in future
142	142	pregnancies;
143	143	(5) document whether the pregnant woman received
144	144	treatment for Rh negativity, as diagnosed by the most accurate
145	145	standard of medical care; and
146	146	(6) ensure the physician does not provide an
147	147	abortion-inducing drug for a pregnant woman whose pregnancy is more
148	148	than 49 days of gestational age.
149	149	(e) A [The] physician who [gives, sells, dispenses,
150	150	administers,] provides[, or prescribes] the abortion-inducing
151	151	drug, or the physician's agent, must schedule a follow-up visit for
152	152	the woman to occur not later [more] than the 14th day [14 days]
153	153	after the earliest date on which the abortion-inducing drug is
154	154	administered [administration] or used or the abortion is performed
155	155	or induced [use of the drug]. At the follow-up visit, the physician
156	156	must:
157	157	(1) confirm that the woman's pregnancy is completely
158	158	terminated; and
159	159	(2) assess any continued blood loss [the degree of
160	160	bleeding].
161	161	SECTION 6. Subchapter D, Chapter 171, Health and Safety
162	162	Code, is amended by adding Sections 171.0631, 171.0632, 171.065,
163	163	and 171.066 to read as follows:
164	164	Sec. 171.0631. VOLUNTARY AND INFORMED CONSENT REQUIRED. A
165	165	person may not provide an abortion-inducing drug to a pregnant
166	166	woman without satisfying the applicable informed consent
167	167	requirements of Subchapter B.
168	168	Sec. 171.0632. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. A physician who
169	169	provides an abortion-inducing drug must comply with the applicable
170	170	physician reporting requirements under Section 245.011.
171	171	Sec. 171.065. CRIMINAL OFFENSE. (a) A person who
172	172	intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly violates this subchapter
173	173	commits an offense. An offense under this subsection is a state
174	174	jail felony.
175	175	(b) A pregnant woman on whom a drug-induced abortion is
176	176	attempted, induced, or performed in violation of this subchapter is
177	177	not criminally liable for the violation.
178	178	(c) Conduct constituting an offense under this section may
179	179	also be the basis for an administrative violation under Section
180	180	171.064.
181	181	Sec. 171.066. ENFORCEMENT OF SUBCHAPTER. A state executive
182	182	or administrative official may not decline to enforce this
183	183	subchapter, or adopt a construction of this subchapter in a way that
184	184	narrows its applicability, based on the official's own beliefs on
185	185	the requirements of the state or federal constitution, unless the
186	186	official is enjoined by a state or federal court from enforcing this
187	187	subchapter.
188	188	SECTION 7. The following provisions of the Health and
189	189	Safety Code are repealed:
190	190	(1) Sections 171.061(3) and (6); and
191	191	(2) Section 171.063(b).
192	192	SECTION 8. (a) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as
193	193	creating or recognizing a right to abortion.
194	194	(b) It is not the intention of this Act to make lawful an
195	195	abortion that is otherwise unlawful.
196	196	(c) Except as specifically provided by Section 7 of this
197	197	Act, nothing in this Act repeals, replaces, or otherwise
198	198	invalidates existing Texas laws, regulations, or policies.
199	199	SECTION 9. Any provision of this Act held to be invalid or
200	200	unenforceable by its terms or as applied to any person or
201	201	circumstance shall be construed to give the provision the maximum
202	202	effect permitted by law, unless such holding is one of utter
203	203	invalidity or unenforceability, in which event the provision shall
204	204	be considered severable from the other provisions of this Act and
205	205	shall not affect the remainder or the application of the provisions
206	206	to other persons not similarly situated or to other, dissimilar
207	207	circumstances.
208	208	SECTION 10. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
209	209	this section, the changes in law made by this Act apply only to an
210	210	abortion performed or induced on or after the effective date of this
211	211	Act.
212	212	(b) Section 171.065, Health and Safety Code, as added by
213	213	this Act, applies only to an abortion performed or induced on or
214	214	after January 1, 2022.
215	215	SECTION 11. This Act takes effect immediately if it
216	216	receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
217	217	house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
218	218	If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
219	219	effect, this Act takes effect on the 91st day after the last day of
220	220	the legislative session.