Texas 2021 - 87th 3rd C.S.

Texas Senate Bill SB34 Compare Versions

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

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