Number 2053 SB 91-ABORTION: INFORMED CONSENT; INFORMATION  MS. SANDRA ALTLAND, staff to Senator Ward, noted that there are two main parts to informed consent. First, the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) would be required to develop a pamphlet that would be available to the public. The pamphlet would consist of factual and nonbiased information that talked about pregnancy and abortion alternatives available throughout the state. Second, SB 91 asks that the current signed consent requirements be changed from regulation to statute and that definite points be covered with pregnant women during informed consent. MS. ALTLAND said it is important for women to have abortion information before them so they can make the best decision, and DHSS is to compile a pamphlet and distribute it, free of charge, to anyone who wants it. The pamphlet would discuss fetal development and it would use the term "unborn child." The words unborn child need to be in the pamphlet because the pamphlet would be written for people who want to use terms such as baby or unborn child - the term fetal development dehumanizes the reality of pregnancy. MS. ALTLAND said that page 2, line 28 talks about abortion procedures, medical risks, and psychological effects. Often the psychological effects do not surface until years later and this connection is not made at the time. She said this information needed to be up front and in a manner that speaks to the woman going through this situation, telling them there are chances of severe medical risk. The information should be available anyplace a pregnant woman would be, such as public hospitals, clinics, and health facilities throughout the state and it should also be available if an administrator in a private hospital would like it. MS. ALTLAND said SB 91 asks doctors to take time in giving the necessary information to women who are trying to make a decision about abortion, and to also give them other alternatives. The bill also clarifies what informed consent is, and the pamphlet would have pictures of fetal development, showing the unborn child at different stages. Number 2354 SENATOR THERRIAULT asked if SB 91 substantially modified current regulations. MS. ALTLAND noted that laying out the different points of informed consent would help unify the information that had been given. She said some doctors are very good at providing information, but others do not take the time for good informed consent. SENATOR THERRIAULT asked if SB 91 was just copying the regulation language into statute. MS. ALTLAND was not sure of the answer. Number 2243 CHAIRMAN TAYLOR noted that it was not his intention to move SB 91 from committee at this time because there had not been adequate notice of the meeting or adequate time for testimony. DR. BOB JOHNSON, testifying via teleconference from Kodiak, said he has practiced medicine in Alaska from 1955 to 1994 when he retired. He said he performed abortions during that time and was the only physician in Kodiak that did. He said he had faxed the committee an article he wrote several years ago on abortion. He opposed SB 91 as an unnecessary impediment to the free exercise of choice, which had been a legal right of women since Roe versus Wade. Administratively there are requirements in place for reporting abortions, the stage of gestation, reasons for the abortion, and complications. The matter of consent is reiterated many times in all areas of medical care and no physician would fail to obtain a signed consent. A woman has a right to ask her physician any question and a physician has the obligation to answer that question to the best of his or her ability. He said there was no need to designate exactly what needed to be asked, particularly since it often mitigated against treating each patient as an individual with individual needs. Dr. Johnson felt that SB 91 was redundant and its aim was to control individuals and impose what some people think should be required in order for women to exercise their choice. MR. JOHNSON said if the legislature must pass SB 91, he would suggest that members listen to the suggestions of the Alaska Civil Liberties Union and consider taking out the emotionally charged words "unborn child." He said someone who was not in favor of abortions had obviously put this into the bill, and the proper medical term was fetus, which was not an emotionally disruptive term. MR. JOHNSON commented that the residency requirement of 30 days should be eliminated. He said he hoped committee members would read the article he had sent. Number 2074 MS. KAREN VOS BURGH, Executive Director for Alaska Right to Life, said SB 91 is severely needed. Many times doctors do not give patients full information and sometimes the information not very factual. She had talked with many women who say they were not given the right information therefore it should be required. Abortionists do not want the baby referred to as baby, they want it referred to as fetus - the "preborn baby" is sometimes referred to as pregnancy tissue or "just a bunch of cells" or a product of conception. Virtually nothing is being done by the abortion industry or the general press to warn women who are considering abortion about its high rate of risk. Several states have implemented right to know laws and Alaska should follow suit. There are over 100 potential complications associated with abortion and there are many studies that prove this. The abortionists say there is no connection between breast cancer and abortion but several studies have proven otherwise. Legislators in 11 states are pushing for pro-life laws requiring abortion practitioners to tell women that an abortion could raise their risk of breast cancer. This is not only an abortion issue but also a health issue. She said the medical establishment is trying to cover up the link between abortion and breast cancer and that someday this would be a public relations fiasco for them. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR thanked her, and said time was running short but SB 91 would be heard again if she wanted to testify at the next hearing. Number 1792 MS. CHRISTINA TALBOTT, speaking on her own behalf, said she had a few concerns regarding the language of SB 91. On page 2, line 10 the language says, "(4) states that a person who coerces a woman to undergo an abortion may be prosecuted for a felony offense under AS 11.41.530." She said in the interest of providing objective and nonjudgmental language it might make more sense to change the language to: "coercing women into a decision regarding an abortion" - just to be more inclusive. She said (5) is redundant because law already requires informed consent. On page 3, line 16 the language reads, "(1) 'fertilization' means the fusion of a human spermatozoon with a human ovum," but she said the date of occurrence is unclear. She objected to the language on page 2, lines 18 and 19 defining "gestational age" as the age of the unborn child as calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period of a pregnant woman. She said this was not possible. Women ovulate between one and one half weeks after their period has finished and if the age of the unborn child is counted from that date, two or three weeks would be added to the age of the child, which would be a concern because lines 19 through 27 on page 2 says the pamphlet is to describe the fetal development of the typical unborn child at two week gestational increments, which would effect where the baby was and where the woman reading the pamphlet felt their child had developed. She said in Section 1, (7) the language that says, "relevant information about the possibility of an unborn child's survival at the various gestational ages" is unclear and should be removed from SB 91 or defined further. She also objected to the term "unborn child" because the word fetus is a commonly known term, which is an objective nonbiased scientific term. Number 1656 MS. KAREN PEARSON, Director of the Division of Public Health for the Department of Health and Social Service (DHSS), said the department is in agreement that all women seeking a pregnancy termination should be fully informed prior to termination. DHSS is concerned about the inclusion requirements for the pamphlet though. SB 91 says that the names of all providers and agencies are to be in a pamphlet and their services are to be included, and all of this is to be geographically indexed. There are more than 200 communities in Alaska and if one pamphlet were assembled that lists all the information required by SB 91, it would be very large. The pamphlet would also be out of date by the time it is printed because Alaska has many providers that come and go. DHSS is concerned that what it is being requested might not accomplish what the sponsor intended, which is information in a complete and useable form. The pamphlet would also be a big expense for the department because it would take someone working full time to keep up with all the changes, in all the communities. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR said that under current statute AS 18.05.035 the department was mandated to prepare information regarding planned parenthood and to place that information in public hospitals. He asked how the existing requirements would be any different than what would be required by SB 91. MS. PEARSON said existing statute does not specify that the information be all in one document or what the content should be. The statute tells the department to put out information related to planned parenthood but it does not say what the format or content should be. SENATOR THERRIAULT asked if the problem was in the geographical indexing. MS. PEARSON said that was exactly right. SB 91 would require a list for every service agency, every provider, in every community with what services they provide and how to access them. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR said that Ms. Jennifer Rudinger was on line and the committee had received her comments but because of a lack of time, SB 91 would be held in committee and taken up at a later date. He said he would have his staff contact her in advance of the next meeting so she could testify then. MS. JENNIFER RUDINGER, Alaska Civil Liberties, said she had a statement from Dr. Jan Whitefield in Anchorage and would fax it to the committee.