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