SB 15: "An Act relating to abortion, fetal pain, anesthesia, and informed consent; and providing for an effective date."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 15 01 "An Act relating to abortion, fetal pain, anesthesia, and informed consent; and 02 providing for an effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 05 to read: 06 SHORT TITLE. This Act may be known as the Fetal Pain Awareness and Prevention 07 Act. 08 * Sec. 2. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 09 read: 10 LEGISLATIVE PURPOSE AND FINDINGS. (a) The purpose of this Act is to 11 (1) ensure that every woman considering an abortion receives complete 12 information on the reality and status of the woman's pregnancy and of the unborn child; 13 (2) ensure that every woman who chooses to have an abortion has first 14 received accurate information on the ability of an unborn child to feel pain;
01 (3) protect an unborn child from a woman's uninformed decision to have an 02 abortion; 03 (4) take measures to protect an unborn child from suffering pain needlessly 04 during an abortion; 05 (5) reduce the risk, described by the United States Supreme Court in Planned 06 Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833, 882 (1992), that a woman may elect an abortion, only to 07 discover later, with devastating psychological consequences, that the woman's decision was 08 not fully informed; and 09 (6) provide a woman considering an abortion the opportunity to choose 10 anesthesia or analgesia that will alleviate or eliminate pain that an unborn child may feel 11 during an abortion. 12 (b) The legislature finds that 13 (1) receipt of complete and accurate information on the reality and status of a 14 woman's pregnancy by the woman is essential to the woman's psychological and physical 15 well-being; 16 (2) the United States Supreme Court, in Planned Parenthood v. Danforth, 428 17 U.S. 52, 67 (1976), stated that the decision to abort is an important and often stressful one, 18 and it is desirable and imperative that an abortion decision be made with full knowledge of its 19 nature and consequences; 20 (3) adequate and legitimate informed consent to an abortion includes 21 information that relates to the consequences of an abortion to the fetus as found by the United 22 States Supreme Court in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833, 882 (1992); and 23 (4) the state may take measures to protect unborn children from suffering pain 24 needlessly during the performance of an abortion. 25 * Sec. 3. AS 18.05.032(a) is amended to read: 26 (a) The department shall maintain on the Internet, in printable form, standard 27 information that 28 (1) contains geographically indexed material designed to inform a 29 person of public and private agencies, services, clinics, and facilities that are available 30 to assist a woman with the woman's reproductive choices; the department shall include 31 information about at least the following types of agencies, services, clinics, and
01 facilities: 02 (A) agencies, services, clinics, and facilities designed to assist a 03 woman through pregnancy, including adoption agencies, and counseling 04 services; 05 (B) agencies, services, clinics, and facilities that provide 06 abortion options and counseling and post-abortion counseling and services; and 07 (C) agencies, services, clinics, and facilities designed to assist 08 with or provide contraceptive options and counseling for appropriate family 09 planning; 10 (2) includes a comprehensive regional directory of the agencies, 11 services, clinics, and facilities that request to be identified by the department under (1) 12 of this subsection, a description of the services they offer, and the manner in which the 13 agencies, services, clinics, and facilities may be contacted, including telephone 14 numbers; 15 (3) provides information concerning the eligibility for medical 16 assistance benefits for prenatal care, childbirth, neonatal care, abortion services, 17 women's health care, and contraception; 18 (4) states that informed and voluntary consent is required under 19 AS 18.16.060 for an abortion; 20 (5) provides information concerning the process by which a mother of 21 a child may establish a child support order to assist in the support of a child; 22 (6) describes the fetal development of a typical unborn child at two- 23 week gestational increments from fertilization to full-term, including links to 24 photographs of a typical unborn child at four-week gestational increments, and 25 relevant information about the possibility of an unborn child's survival at the various 26 gestational ages; the information must be objective, nonjudgmental information that is 27 reviewed and approved for medical accuracy by recognized obstetrical and 28 gynecological specialists designated by the State Medical Board and designed to 29 convey only accurate scientific information about unborn children at various 30 gestational ages; 31 (7) contains objective, unbiased information that is reviewed and
01 approved for medical accuracy by recognized obstetrical and gynecological specialists 02 designated by the State Medical Board and that describes the methods of abortion 03 procedures and treatments commonly employed and the medical risks and possible 04 complications commonly associated with each procedure and treatment, as well as the 05 possible physical and psychological effects that have been associated with having an 06 abortion; 07 (8) contains objective, unbiased information that is reviewed and 08 approved for medical accuracy by recognized obstetrical and gynecological specialists 09 designated by the State Medical Board and that describes the possible medical risks 10 and complications commonly associated with pregnancy and childbirth, as well as the 11 possible physical and psychological effects that have been associated with carrying a 12 child to term; 13 (9) contains objective, unbiased information that is reviewed and 14 approved for medical accuracy by recognized obstetrical and gynecological specialists 15 designated by the State Medical Board and that concerns the harmful effects on an 16 unborn child when a woman consumes alcohol, tobacco, or illegal drugs during 17 pregnancy; 18 (10) contains objective, unbiased, and comprehensive information that 19 is reviewed and approved for medical accuracy by recognized obstetrical and 20 gynecological specialists designated by the State Medical Board and that describes the 21 different types of available contraceptive choices, including abstinence and natural 22 family planning, that describes the methods of contraception that are intended to 23 prevent fertilization and the methods that are intended to prevent implantation of a 24 fertilized egg, and that describes the reliability, psychological effects, medical risks, 25 and complications commonly associated with each method; 26 (11) contains a disclaimer on the website home page concerning the 27 graphic or sensitive nature of the information contained on the website; 28 (12) contains a signature form by which a person may indicate the 29 person has reviewed the information; 30 (13) contains objective, unbiased, and comprehensive information 31 that is reviewed and approved for medical accuracy by recognized obstetrical
01 and gynecological specialists designated by the State Medical Board and that 02 describes 03 (A) scientific evidence explaining how an unborn child 04 experiences and responds to pain; 05 (B) anesthesia available to reduce pain to the unborn child 06 before an abortion is performed; 07 (C) all risks to the pregnant woman and to the unborn child 08 of administering anesthesia. 09 * Sec. 4. AS 18.16.010(a) is amended to read: 10 (a) An abortion may not be performed in this state unless 11 (1) the abortion is performed by a physician licensed by the State 12 Medical Board under AS 08.64.200; 13 (2) the abortion is performed in a hospital or other facility approved for 14 the purpose by the Department of Health and Social Services or a hospital operated by 15 the federal government or an agency of the federal government; 16 (3) before an abortion is knowingly performed or induced on an 17 unmarried, unemancipated woman under 17 years of age, consent has been given as 18 required under AS 18.16.020 or a court has authorized the minor to consent to the 19 abortion under AS 18.16.030 and the minor consents; for purposes of enforcing this 20 paragraph, there is a rebuttable presumption that a woman who is unmarried and under 21 17 years of age is unemancipated; 22 (4) the woman is domiciled or physically present in the state for 30 23 days before the abortion; [AND] 24 (5) the applicable requirements of AS 18.16.060 have been satisfied; 25 and 26 (6) the applicable requirements of AS 18.16.070 have been 27 satisfied. 28 * Sec. 5. AS 18.16.060(b) is amended to read: 29 (b) Consent to an abortion is informed and voluntary when the woman or 30 another person whose consent is required certifies in writing that the physician who is 31 to perform the abortion, a member of the physician's staff who is a licensed health care
01 provider, or the referring physician 02 (1) has verbally informed the woman or another person whose consent 03 is required of 04 (A) the name of the physician who will perform the procedure; 05 (B) fetal pain and the option of anesthesia for the unborn 06 child and the risks associated with the anesthesia, as required under 07 AS 18.16.070; and 08 (C) the gestational estimation of the pregnancy at the time the 09 abortion is to be performed; and 10 (2) has provided either 11 (A) [(1)] the Internet information required to be maintained 12 under AS 18.05.032; the physician or a member of the physician's staff who is 13 a licensed health care provider shall provide a copy of the Internet information 14 if a person requests a written copy; if a member of the physician's staff 15 provides the information required under this subparagraph [PARAGRAPH], 16 the member of the physician's staff shall offer the opportunity to consult with 17 the physician; or 18 (B) [(2)] information about the nature and risks of undergoing 19 or not undergoing the proposed procedure that a reasonable patient would 20 consider material to making a voluntary and informed decision of whether to 21 undergo the procedure. 22 * Sec. 6. AS 18.16 is amended by adding a new section to read: 23 Sec. 18.16.070. Anesthesia for an abortion; consent. (a) Except as provided 24 in (d) of this section, a person may not knowingly perform or induce an abortion of an 25 unborn child that is 20 weeks gestational age or more unless the pregnant woman or 26 other person whose consent is required certifies that the pregnant woman or other 27 person has received information on fetal pain and the option of fetal anesthesia not 28 less than 24 hours before the abortion is to be performed. The information provided 29 must include 30 (1) a statement that, by 20 weeks gestational age, an unborn child 31 (A) possess all anatomical links in the unborn child's nervous
01 system that are necessary for feeling pain; 02 (B) is capable of experiencing pain; 03 (2) a description of the actual steps in the abortion procedure to be 04 performed or induced and the steps in which the unborn child is capable of feeling 05 pain; and 06 (3) a statement that maternal anesthesia typically offers little pain 07 prevention for the unborn child and that an anesthetic or analgesic is available to 08 minimize or alleviate pain to the fetus. 09 (b) At the request of the person on whom an abortion is to be performed, a 10 qualified licensed health care provider shall administer anesthesia in a manner 11 consistent with standard medical practice in the community to eliminate or alleviate 12 pain to the fetus caused by the particular method of abortion to be performed or 13 induced. 14 (c) The information required under (a) of this section shall be provided in 15 person by the physician performing or inducing the abortion, the referring physician, 16 or a qualified assistant to the physician. 17 (d) The requirements of (a) - (c) of this section do not apply when the 18 physician who is to perform an abortion or the referring physician for the abortion 19 determines, based on the physician's best medical judgment, that 20 (1) a medical emergency exists; in this paragraph, "medical 21 emergency" means a physician has determined, based on good faith clinical judgment, 22 that 23 (A) a condition exists that so complicates the health of a 24 pregnant woman that the immediate termination of the woman's pregnancy is 25 necessary to avert the death of the pregnant woman; or 26 (B) a delay in performing an abortion will create a serious risk 27 of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the 28 pregnant woman; 29 (2) the administration of an anesthetic or analgesic would, to a 30 medically significant degree, decrease the possibility of sustained survival of the fetus 31 apart from the body of the mother, with or without artificial support; or
01 (3) the administration of an anesthetic or analgesic would increase the 02 risk to the woman's life or physical health. 03 (e) A written certification must be signed by the woman on whom an abortion 04 is to be performed or another person whose consent is required that the information 05 required under this section has been received, that an option for fetal anesthesia was 06 provided and that the woman either requested fetal anesthesia or opted not to receive 07 the anesthesia or analgesia. The certification shall be retained in the woman's medical 08 record and be available for the department and the appropriate licensing agency to 09 review. 10 (f) The department and the appropriate licensing agency in the state shall 11 enforce the requirements of this section by the imposition of an administrative fine or 12 other appropriate discipline under the agency's licensing authority. 13 (g) In addition to other civil or criminal liability, a person performing or 14 inducing an abortion in violation of this section is liable for actual and punitive 15 damages in a malpractice action. 16 (h) A court or administrative body shall maintain the privacy of a woman on 17 whom an abortion was performed by redacting identifying information from court 18 records, by closing any proceeding, or by entry of a protective order upon request. 19 (i) Nothing in this section shall be construed to create or recognize a right to 20 an abortion or to legalize an abortion that is otherwise prohibited under state law. 21 (j) In this section, "department" means the Department of Health and Social 22 Services. 23 * Sec. 7. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).