HCS CSSB 30(FIN): "An Act relating to information and services available to pregnant women and other persons; ensuring informed consent before an abortion may be performed; and providing exceptions to informed consent in certain cases."
00 HOUSE CS FOR CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 30(FIN) 01 "An Act relating to information and services available to pregnant women and other 02 persons; ensuring informed consent before an abortion may be performed; and 03 providing exceptions to informed consent in certain cases." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 06 to read: 07 LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. The legislature finds that 08 (1) duties of the state include regulating medical practice and fostering the 09 development of standards of professional conduct in a critical area of medical practice; 10 (2) the state is interested in protecting the life and health of pregnant women; 11 (3) women have a right to know the medical risks associated with their 12 reproductive options; 13 (4) the creation of an unbiased, scientific information site on the Internet that 14 sufficiently describes reproductive options and their potential consequences will protect,
01 inform, and promote a woman's free and private choices between permanent and life-affecting 02 alternatives; 03 (5) the creation of an unbiased, scientific information site on the Internet that 04 sufficiently describes reproductive options and their potential consequences will reduce costly 05 and undue litigation, will promote judicial economy and resources, and will provide 06 physicians with a clear understanding of what constitutes informed consent for abortion by 07 creating a rebuttable presumption that the physician has provided sufficient information to the 08 pregnant woman if that physician distributes the information maintained on the Internet site; 09 (6) considerable testimony has been received indicating that women have, on 10 occasion, received abortions in the state without considering sufficient information. 11 * Sec. 2. AS 18.05 is amended by adding a new section to read: 12 Sec. 18.05.032. Information relating to pregnancy and pregnancy 13 alternatives. (a) The department shall maintain on the Internet, in printable form, 14 standard information that 15 (1) contains geographically indexed material designed to inform a 16 person of public and private agencies, services, clinics, and facilities that are available 17 to assist a woman with the woman's reproductive choices; the department shall include 18 information about at least the following types of agencies, services, clinics, and 19 facilities: 20 (A) agencies, services, clinics, and facilities designed to assist a 21 woman through pregnancy, including adoption agencies, and counseling 22 services; 23 (B) agencies, services, clinics, and facilities that provide 24 abortion options and counseling and post-abortion counseling and services; and 25 (C) agencies, services, clinics, and facilities designed to assist 26 with or provide contraceptive options and counseling for appropriate family 27 planning; 28 (2) includes a comprehensive regional directory of the agencies, 29 services, clinics, and facilities that request to be identified by the department under (1) 30 of this subsection, a description of the services they offer, and the manner in which the 31 agencies, services, clinics, and facilities may be contacted, including telephone
01 numbers; 02 (3) provides information concerning the eligibility for medical 03 assistance benefits for prenatal care, childbirth, neonatal care, abortion services, 04 women's health care, and contraception; 05 (4) states that informed and voluntary consent is required under 06 AS 18.16.060 for an abortion; 07 (5) provides information concerning the process by which a mother of 08 a child may establish a child support order to assist in the support of a child; 09 (6) describes the fetal development of a typical unborn child at two- 10 week gestational increments from fertilization to full-term, including links to 11 photographs of a typical unborn child at two-week gestational increments, and 12 relevant information about the possibility of an unborn child's survival at the various 13 gestational ages; the information must be objective, nonjudgmental information that is 14 designed to convey only accurate scientific information about unborn children at 15 various gestational ages; 16 (7) contains objective, unbiased information that describes the methods 17 of abortion procedures and treatments commonly employed and the medical risks and 18 possible complications commonly associated with each procedure and treatment, as 19 well as the possible physical and psychological effects that have been associated with 20 having an abortion; 21 (8) contains objective, unbiased information describing the possible 22 medical risks and complications commonly associated with pregnancy and childbirth, 23 as well as the possible physical and psychological effects that have been associated 24 with carrying a child to term; 25 (9) contains objective, unbiased information concerning the harmful 26 effects on an unborn child when a woman consumes alcohol, tobacco, or illegal drugs 27 during pregnancy; 28 (10) contains objective, unbiased, and comprehensive information 29 describing the different types of available contraceptive choices, including abstinence 30 and natural family planning, describing the methods of contraception that are intended 31 to prevent fertilization and the methods that are intended to prevent implantation of a
01 fertilized egg, and describing the reliability, psychological effects, medical risks, and 02 complications commonly associated with each method; 03 (11) contains a disclaimer on the website home page concerning the 04 graphic or sensitive nature of the information contained on the website; 05 (12) contains a dated, time-stamped signature form that can be printed 06 out as evidence that the person identified on the form, with appropriate security 07 safeguards as to identity, has reviewed the information described in (1) - (11) of this 08 subsection. 09 (b) The department shall adopt regulations establishing procedures for 10 establishing and maintaining the information under this section. 11 (c) In this section, 12 (1) "abortion" has the meaning given in AS 18.16.090; 13 (2) "fertilization" means the fusion of a human spermatozoon with a 14 human ovum; 15 (3) "gestational age" means the age of the unborn child as calculated 16 from the first day of the last menstrual period of a pregnant woman; 17 (4) "unborn child" means the offspring of a human being in utero at 18 various stages of biological development. 19 * Sec. 3. AS 18.16.010(a) is amended to read: 20 (a) An abortion may not be performed in this state unless 21 (1) the abortion is performed by a physician [OR SURGEON] licensed 22 by the State Medical Board under AS 08.64.200; 23 (2) the abortion is performed in a hospital or other facility approved for 24 the purpose by the Department of Health and Social Services or a hospital operated by 25 the federal government or an agency of the federal government; 26 (3) before an abortion is knowingly performed or induced on an 27 unmarried, unemancipated woman under 17 years of age, consent has been given as 28 required under AS 18.16.020 or a court has authorized the minor to consent to the 29 abortion under AS 18.16.030 and the minor consents; for purposes of enforcing this 30 paragraph, there is a rebuttable presumption that a woman who is unmarried and under 31 17 years of age is unemancipated; [AND]
01 (4) the woman is domiciled or physically present in the state for 30 02 days before the abortion; and 03 (5) the applicable requirements of AS 18.16.060 have been 04 satisfied. 05 * Sec. 4. AS 18.16.010 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 06 (h) A physician or other health care provider is liable for failure to obtain the 07 informed consent of a person as required under AS 18.16.060 if the claimant 08 establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the provider has failed to inform 09 the person of the common risks of and reasonable alternatives to the proposed abortion 10 procedure and that, but for that failure, the person would not have consented to the 11 abortion procedure. 12 (i) In an action under (h) of this section, 13 (1) there is a rebuttable presumption that an abortion was performed 14 with the pregnant woman's informed consent if the person who performed the abortion 15 submits into evidence a copy of the woman's signature form maintained under 16 AS 18.05.032(a) signed at least 24 hours before the procedure; and 17 (2) the defenses described in AS 09.55.556 are not available. 18 * Sec. 5. AS 18.16 is amended by adding a new section to read: 19 Sec. 18.16.060. Informed consent requirements. (a) Except as provided in 20 (d) of this section, a person may not knowingly perform or induce an abortion without 21 the voluntary and informed consent of 22 (1) a woman on whom an abortion is to be performed or induced; 23 (2) the parent, guardian, or custodian of a pregnant, unemancipated 24 minor if required under AS 18.16.020; or 25 (3) a pregnant, unemancipated minor if authorized by a court under 26 AS 18.60.030. 27 (b) Consent to an abortion is informed and voluntary when the woman or 28 another person whose consent is required certifies in writing that the physician who is 29 to perform the abortion, a member of the physician's staff who is a licensed health care 30 provider, or the referring physician has verbally informed the woman or another 31 person whose consent is required of the name of the physician who will perform the
01 procedure and the gestational estimation of the pregnancy at the time the abortion is to 02 be performed and has provided either 03 (1) the Internet information required to be maintained under 04 AS 18.05.032; the physician or a member of the physician's staff who is a licensed 05 health care provider shall provide a copy of the Internet information if a person 06 requests a written copy; if a member of the physician's staff provides the information 07 required under this paragraph, the member of the physician's staff shall offer the 08 opportunity to consult with the physician; or 09 (2) information about the common risks of and reasonable alternatives 10 to an abortion. 11 (c) The information required in (b) of this section shall be provided at least 24 12 hours before the procedure in a private setting to protect privacy, maintain the 13 confidentiality of the decision, ensure that the information focuses on the individual 14 circumstances, and ensure an adequate opportunity to ask questions. Provision of the 15 information telephonically or by electronic mail, regular mail, or facsimile transmittal 16 before the person's appointment satisfies the requirements of this subsection as long as 17 the person whose consent is required under (a) of this section has an opportunity to ask 18 questions of the physician after receiving the information. 19 (d) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, informed consent that meets the 20 requirements of (a) - (c) of this section is not required in the case of a medical 21 emergency or if the pregnancy is the result of sexual assault under AS 11.41.410 - 22 11.41.427, sexual abuse of a minor under AS 11.41.434 - 11.41.440, incest under 23 AS 11.41.450, or an offense under a law of another jurisdiction with elements similar 24 to one of these offences. In this subsection, "medical emergency" means a condition 25 that, on the basis of a physician's good faith clinical judgment, so complicates the 26 medical condition of a pregnant woman that 27 (1) the immediate termination of the woman's pregnancy is necessary 28 to avert the woman's death; or 29 (2) a delay in providing an abortion will create serious risk of 30 substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the woman. 31 * Sec. 6. AS 18.50.245(e) is amended to read:
01 (e) The state registrar shall adopt regulations to implement this section. The 02 regulations that establish the information that will be required in a report of an induced 03 termination of pregnancy 04 (1) must require information substantially similar to the information 05 required under the United States Standard Report of Induced Termination of 06 Pregnancy, as published by the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for 07 Disease Control and Prevention, United States Department of Health and Human 08 Services, in April 1998, as part of DHHS Publication No. (PHS) 98-1117; 09 (2) must require, if known, whether the unidentified patient 10 requested and received a written copy of the information required to be 11 maintained on the Internet under AS 18.05.032; and 12 (3) may not include provisions that would violate a woman's 13 privacy by requiring the woman's name or any identifying information in the 14 report. 15 * Sec. 7. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 16 read: 17 SEVERABILITY. Under AS 01.10.030, the provisions of this Act are severable.