BILL ANALYSIS


                                                    C.S.S.B. 1033
                                                       By: Harris
                                        Health and Human Services
                                                          4-28-95
                                   Committee Report (Substituted)
BACKGROUND

One of the key purposes of the Roe v. Wade decision was to make
abortion procedures within the United States both safe and legal. 
Decades after the decision, however, the abortion industry in Texas
remains the least regulated of all medical fields.  Under current
regulations, abortion clinics are licensed but never inspected. 
Regulations governing them are inconsistent with all other surgical
facilities within the state, including veterinary clinics. 
Abortion facilities are not required to have whole blood on site in
the event of an emergency, and abortion providers are not required
to transport patients with life-threatening complications to a
hospital by emergency vehicles.  As a result, the procedure is
legal but not necessarily safe.  This fact is proven by the number
of deaths and by an even larger number of permanent injuries to
clients within clinics ill-prepared to handle them.

PURPOSE

As proposed, C.S.S.B. 1033 requires an ambulatory surgical center
that performs an abortion to submit a report on each abortion to
the Texas Department of Health.  The bill also maintains the
responsibility of a physician to perform an abortion in an
unlicensed facility in order to prevent the death or serious
physical or mental impairment of a patient.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not grant any
additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or
agency.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Sections 243.002, 243.004, and 243.006, Health
and Safety Code, as follows:

     Sec. 243.002.  DEFINITIONS.  Defines "abortion" and redefines
     "ambulatory surgical center."
     
     Sec. 243.004.  EXEMPTIONS FROM LICENSING REQUIREMENT. 
     Provides that an office or clinic of a licensed physician,
     dentist, or podiatrist where abortion services are performed
     is not exempt from the licensing requirement.
     
     Sec. 243.006.  INSPECTIONS.  Requires the Texas Department of
     Health (department), at least annually, to inspect an
     ambulatory surgical center that is not certified under Title
     XVIII of the federal Social Security Act.  Requires an
     inspection conducted under this subsection to be substantially
     similar to an inspection conducted in connection with
     certification under that law.
     
     SECTION 2.     Amends Chapter 243, Health and Safety Code, by adding
Sections 243.0105 and 243.0106, as follows:

     Sec. 243.0105.  REPORTING REQUIREMENTS; CRIMINAL PENALTY.  (a)
     Requires each ambulatory medical center that performs an
     abortion to submit an annual report, on a department form, to
     the department on each abortion performed.
     
     (b) Prohibits the report from identifying by any means the
       physician performing the abortion or the patient.
       
       (c) Sets forth information required in the report.
       
       (d) Makes all the information and records held by the
       department under this chapter confidential and to be
       released or made public only under specific circumstances.
       
       (e) Provides that a person in violation of this section
       commits an offense classified as a Class A misdemeanor.
       
       Sec. 243.0106.  ABORTION IN UNLICENSED FACILITY TO PREVENT
     DEATH OR SERIOUS IMPAIRMENT.  Provides that this chapter does
     not remove the responsibility or limit the ability of a
     physician to perform an abortion in an unlicensed facility if
     the physician reasonably believes at the commencement of the
     abortion that the abortion is necessary to prevent the
     patient's death or serious impairment of the patient's
     physical or mental condition.
     
     SECTION 3.     Amends Section 243.013, Health and Safety Code, by
adding Subsection (d), to make a violation of Subsection
243.003(a), resulting from an abortion performed under Section
243.0106, a defense to prosecution.

SECTION 4. Repealer: Chapter 245, Health and Safety Code (Abortion
Facilities).

SECTION 5. Effective date of this Act: September 1, 1995.
           Effective date of Section 4 of this Act: January 1,
1996.

SECTION 6. Makes application of this Act, regarding an ambulatory
surgical center that provides abortion services, prospective
beginning January 1, 1996.

SECTION 7. Makes application of this Act, regarding the repeal of
Sections 245.011 and 245.014, Health and Safety Code, prospective
beginning January 1, 1996.

SECTION 8. Emergency clause.