00HOUSE BILL NO. 329                                                                                                    
01 "An Act relating to unborn children and abortion."                                                                      
02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03    * Section 1.  AS 18.05 is amended by adding a new section to read:                                                 
04  Sec. 18.05.032.  Information relating to unborn children and abortion.  (a)                                         
05 The department shall obtain or prepare written information that                                                         
06   (1)  contains geographically-indexed material designed to inform a                                                   
07 person of public and private agencies and services, including adoption agencies, that                                   
08 are available to assist a woman through a pregnancy, at childbirth, and while the child                                 
09 is dependent; the material must include a comprehensive list of the agencies, a                                         
10 description of the services they offer, and the manner in which the agencies may be                                     
11 contacted, including telephone numbers; in addition to this written material, the                                       
12 department, through a toll-free 24-hour-a-day telephone number, may orally provide                                      
13 a list and description of agencies that are in the locality of the caller;                                              
14   (2)  provides information on the availability of medical assistance                                                  

01 benefits for prenatal care, childbirth, and neonatal care;                                                              
02   (3)  states that a person may not lawfully coerce a woman to undergo                                                 
03 an abortion;                                                                                                            
04   (4)  states that a physician who performs or induces an abortion on a                                                
05 woman without obtaining the woman's informed consent may be liable to the woman                                         
06 for damages in a civil action;                                                                                          
07   (5)  states that the father of a child is liable to assist in the support of                                         
08 the child even in instances where the father has offered to pay for an abortion, and that                               
09 the law permits adoptive parents to pay costs of prenatal care, childbirth, and neonatal                                
10 care;                                                                                                                   
11   (6)  is designed to inform the woman of the probable anatomical and                                                  
12 physiological characteristics of the unborn child at two-week gestational increments                                    
13 from fertilization to full term, including pictures or drawings representing the                                        
14 development of unborn children at two-week gestational increments and relevant                                          
15 information about the possibility of an unborn child's survival at the various                                          
16 gestational ages; the pictures or drawings must contain the dimensions of the fetus and                                 
17 shall be realistic and appropriate for the woman's stage of pregnancy; the information                                  
18 must be objective, nonjudgmental, and designed to convey only accurate scientific                                       
19 information about unborn children at various gestational ages;                                                          
20   (7)  contains objective information that describes the methods of                                                    
21 abortion procedures and treatments commonly employed, the medical risks commonly                                        
22 associated with each procedure and treatment, the possible detrimental psychological                                    
23 effects of abortion, and the medical risks commonly associated with carrying an                                         
24 unborn child to term.                                                                                                   
25  (b)  The information required under (a) of this section must be written in easily                                     
26 comprehensible language and must be printed in a typeface that is large enough to be                                    
27 clearly legible.                                                                                                        
28  (c)  The department shall make the information required under (a) of this                                             
29 section available free of charge on request and in an appropriate volume to the                                         
30 requestor.                                                                                                             
31  (d)  In this section,                                                                                               

01   (1)  "conception" means the fusion of a human spermatozoan with a                                                   
02 human ovum;                                                                                                             
03   (2)  "fertilization" has the meaning given "conception";                                                             
04   (3)  "gestational age" means the age of the unborn child as calculated                                               
05 from the first day of the last menstrual period of the pregnant woman;                                                  
06   (4)  "pregnant" or "pregnancy" means a female reproductive condition                                                 
07 of having a developing fetus in the body from the time of conception;                                                   
08   (5) "unborn child" means the offspring of human beings from                                                          
09 conception until birth.                                                                                                 
10    * Sec. 2.  AS 18.16.010(a) is amended to read:                                                                   
11  (a)  An abortion may not be performed in this state unless                                                            
12   (1)  the abortion is performed by a physician or surgeon licensed by the                                             
13 State Medical Board under AS 08.64.200;                                                                                 
14   (2)  the abortion is performed in a hospital or other facility approved for                                          
15 the purpose by the Department of Health and Social Services or a hospital operated by                                   
16 the federal government or an agency of the federal government;                                                          
17   (3)  before an abortion is knowingly performed or induced on an                                                      
18 unmarried, unemancipated woman under 17 years of age, consent has been given as                                         
19 required under AS 18.16.020 or a court has authorized the minor to consent to the                                       
20 abortion under AS 18.16.030 and the minor consents; for purposes of enforcing this                                      
21 paragraph, there is a rebuttable presumption that a woman who is unmarried and under                                    
22 17 years of age is unemancipated; [AND]                                                                                 
23   (4)  the woman is domiciled or physically present in the state for 30                                                
24 days before the abortion ; and                                                                                         
25   (5)  the applicable requirements of AS 18.16.060 have been satisfied .                                              
26    * Sec. 3.  AS 18.16.010 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:                                             
27  (h)  A person who performs or induces an abortion in violation of (a)(5) of this                                      
28 section is civilly liable to the pregnant woman for compensatory and punitive damages.                                  
29    * Sec. 4.  AS 18.16 is amended by adding a new section to read:                                                    
30  Sec. 18.16.060.  Informed consent requirements.  (a)  A person may not                                              
31 knowingly perform or induce an abortion without the voluntary and informed consent                                      

01 of the woman on whom the abortion is to be performed or induced.                                                        
02  (b)  Consent to an abortion is voluntary and informed only if all of the                                              
03 following are true:                                                                                                     
04   (1)  at least 24 hours before the abortion, the physician who is to                                                  
05 perform the abortion or the referring physician has orally informed the woman of                                        
06   (A)  the nature of the proposed procedure or treatment and of the                                                   
07 risks and alternatives to the procedure or treatment that a reasonable patient                                          
08 would consider material to the decision of whether or not to undergo the                                                
09 abortion;                                                                                                               
10   (B)  the probable gestational age of the unborn child at the time                                                   
11 the abortion is to be performed; and                                                                                    
12   (C)  the medical risks associated with carrying the unborn child                                                    
13 to term;                                                                                                                
14   (2)  at least 24 hours before the abortion, the physician who is to                                                  
15 perform the abortion, the referring physician, or a person to whom the responsibility                                   
16 has been delegated by either physician has informed the woman that                                                      
17   (A)  the Department of Health and Social Services provides                                                          
18 written information that describes unborn children at various gestational ages                                          
19 and lists the agencies that offer alternatives to abortion; and                                                         
20   (B)  the woman has a right to review the written information                                                        
21 described in (A) of this paragraph and that a copy will be provided at no cost                                          
22 to the woman if the woman chooses to review the information;                                                            
23   (3)  a copy of the information described in (2)(A) of this subsection has                                            
24 been provided to the woman if the woman chooses to review the information; and                                          
25   (4)  the woman certifies in writing before the abortion that the                                                     
26 information required to be provided under (1) - (3) of this subsection has been                                         
27 provided.                                                                                                               
28  (c)  In this section,                                                                                                 
29   (1)  "conception" means the fusion of a human spermatozoan with a                                                    
30 human ovum;                                                                                                             
31   (2)  "gestational age" means the age of the unborn child as calculated                                               

01 from the first day of the last menstrual period of the pregnant woman;                                                  
02   (3)  "pregnant" or "pregnancy" means a female reproductive condition                                                 
03 of having a developing fetus in the body from the time of conception;                                                   
04   (4) "unborn child" means the offspring of human beings from                                                          
05 conception until birth.