Texas 2023 - 88th 3rd C.S.

Texas Senate Bill SB13 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Middleton S.B. No. 13
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to informed consent before provision of certain medical
7	7	treatments and exemptions from COVID-19 vaccination requirements.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as the Texas COVID-19
10	10	Vaccine Freedom Act.
11	11	SECTION 2. The legislature finds that:
12	12	(1) this state is responsible for ensuring that
13	13	individuals lawfully residing in this state have the right to
14	14	provide or withhold consent for any medical treatment;
15	15	(2) the decision in Canterbury v. Spence, 464 F.2d 772
16	16	(D.C. Cir. 1972), establishing the concept of informed consent, has
17	17	become a bedrock principle of the laws of this country and of each
18	18	state;
19	19	(3) the American Medical Association's Code of Medical
20	20	Ethics Opinion 2.1.1 recognizes the right of an individual to be
21	21	fully informed of a recommended medical treatment to allow the
22	22	individual to make an informed decision regarding the individual's
23	23	course of treatment, including whether to obtain or decline a
24	24	particular medical treatment;
25	25	(4) under 42 C.F.R. Section 482.13, a hospital is
26	26	required as a condition of participation in Medicare to have in
27	27	place a process for obtaining the informed consent of a patient
28	28	before providing treatment to the patient and to ensure "[t]he
29	29	patient or his or her representative (as allowed under State law)
30	30	has the right to make informed decisions regarding his or her care";
31	31	(5) the United States Supreme Court upheld mandatory
32	32	vaccination policies imposed by state and local governments to
33	33	combat smallpox in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905),
34	34	and acknowledged in Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins, 447 U.S.
35	35	74, 81 (1980), that a state may provide "individual liberties more
36	36	expansive than those conferred by the Federal Constitution";
37	37	(6) persons inside and outside this state have sought
38	38	or are seeking to compel or coerce individuals lawfully residing in
39	39	this state into obtaining a COVID-19 vaccine contrary to the
40	40	individuals' preferences;
41	41	(7) any attempt to compel or coerce an individual
42	42	lawfully residing in this state into obtaining a COVID-19 vaccine
43	43	contrary to the individual's preference is inconsistent with the
44	44	principles of informed consent; and
45	45	(8) Section 161.0086, Health and Safety Code, as added
46	46	by this Act, prohibits any person from compelling or coercing an
47	47	individual lawfully residing in this state into obtaining medical
48	48	treatments involving the administration of a COVID-19 vaccine.
49	49	SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 161, Health and Safety
50	50	Code, is amended by adding Section 161.0086 to read as follows:
51	51	Sec. 161.0086. INFORMED CONSENT AND MEDICAL TREATMENT
52	52	EXEMPTIONS FOR COVID-19 VACCINATION. (a) In this section:
53	53	(1) "COVID-19" means the 2019 novel coronavirus
54	54	disease.
55	55	(2) "Health care facility" means a facility that is a
56	56	provider of services, as defined by Section 1861, Social Security
57	57	Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1395x).
58	58	(3) "Health care provider" means an individual
59	59	licensed or otherwise authorized by this state to administer
60	60	vaccines.
61	61	(b) A person may not compel or coerce an individual lawfully
62	62	residing in this state into obtaining a medical treatment involving
63	63	the administration of a COVID-19 vaccine, including a COVID-19
64	64	vaccine approved or authorized by the United States Food and Drug
65	65	Administration, contrary to the individual's vaccination
66	66	preference.
67	67	(c) A health care provider may not provide to an individual
68	68	lawfully residing in this state a medical treatment involving the
69	69	administration of a COVID-19 vaccine, including a COVID-19 vaccine
70	70	approved or authorized by the United States Food and Drug
71	71	Administration, unless the provider obtains the individual's
72	72	informed consent before administering the COVID-19 vaccine.
73	73	(d) For purposes of this section:
74	74	(1) an individual lacks the capacity to provide
75	75	informed consent for a medical treatment involving the
76	76	administration of a COVID-19 vaccine if the individual has been
77	77	compelled or coerced into obtaining a COVID-19 vaccine contrary to
78	78	the individual's vaccination preference; and
79	79	(2) a health care provider who advises or recommends
80	80	the administration of a COVID-19 vaccine is not considered to have
81	81	compelled or coerced an individual into obtaining a COVID-19
82	82	vaccine based solely on that advice or recommendation.
83	83	(e) A person may not take an adverse action or impose a
84	84	penalty of any kind against an individual lawfully residing in this
85	85	state for the individual's refusal or failure to obtain a medical
86	86	treatment involving the administration of a COVID-19 vaccine.
87	87	(f) The attorney general may bring an action for injunctive
88	88	relief against a person to prevent the person from violating this
89	89	section. In an injunction issued under this subsection, a court may
90	90	include reasonable requirements to prevent further violations of
91	91	this section.
92	92	(g) A health care provider who violates Subsection (c) is
93	93	liable to the individual who is the subject of the violation for
94	94	damages in an amount of not less than $5,000. The prevailing party
95	95	in an action brought under this subsection may recover reasonable
96	96	expenses incurred as a result of the action, including court costs,
97	97	reasonable attorney's fees, investigation costs, witness fees, and
98	98	deposition expenses.
99	99	(h) A health care provider may assert an affirmative defense
100	100	to an action brought under Subsection (g) that the individual or an
101	101	individual legally authorized to consent on behalf of the
102	102	individual stated to the provider before the COVID-19 vaccine was
103	103	administered that the informed consent was voluntarily provided.
104	104	SECTION 4. Section 161.0086, Health and Safety Code, as
105	105	added by this Act, applies only to conduct that occurs on or after
106	106	the effective date of this Act.
107	107	SECTION 5. If any provision of this Act or its application
108	108	to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does
109	109	not affect other provisions or applications of this Act that can be
110	110	given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to
111	111	this end the provisions of this Act are declared severable.
112	112	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
113	113	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
114	114	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
115	115	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
116	116	Act takes effect on the 91st day after the last day of the
117	117	legislative session.