By Goolsby H.B. No. 14
76R1255 MCK-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to a mandatory blood test to obtain a marriage license.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 2.002, Family Code, is amended to read as
1-5 follows:
1-6 Sec. 2.002. APPLICATION FOR LICENSE. Except as provided by
1-7 Section 2.006, each person applying for a license must:
1-8 (1) appear before the county clerk;
1-9 (2) submit:
1-10 (A) the person's proof of identity and age as
1-11 provided by this subchapter; and
1-12 (B) the medical examination certificate required
1-13 by Section 2.010 or a written waiver issued under Section 2.0106;
1-14 (3) provide the information applicable to that person
1-15 for which spaces are provided in the application for a marriage
1-16 license;
1-17 (4) mark the appropriate boxes provided in the
1-18 application; and
1-19 (5) take the oath printed on the application and sign
1-20 the application before the county clerk.
1-21 SECTION 2. Section 2.006(b), Family Code, is amended to read
1-22 as follows:
1-23 (b) The person applying on behalf of an absent applicant
1-24 shall provide to the clerk:
2-1 (1) the affidavit of the absent applicant as provided
2-2 by this subchapter;
2-3 (2) proof of the identity and age of the absent
2-4 applicant as provided by this subchapter; [and]
2-5 (3) if required because the absent applicant is a
2-6 person under 18 years of age, the documents establishing parental
2-7 consent, documents establishing that a prior marriage has been
2-8 dissolved, or a court order authorizing the marriage of the absent,
2-9 underage applicant; and
2-10 (4) the medical examination certificate for the absent
2-11 applicant required by Section 2.010 or a written waiver issued
2-12 under Section 2.0106.
2-13 SECTION 3. Section 2.009(a), Family Code, is amended to read
2-14 as follows:
2-15 (a) Except as provided by Subsections (b) and (d), the
2-16 county clerk may not issue a license if either applicant:
2-17 (1) fails to provide the information required by this
2-18 subchapter;
2-19 (2) fails to submit proof of age and identity;
2-20 (3) is under 14 years of age and has not been granted
2-21 a court order as provided by Section 2.103;
2-22 (4) is 14 years of age or older but under 18 years of
2-23 age and has not presented at least one of the following:
2-24 (A) parental consent as provided by Section
2-25 2.102;
2-26 (B) documents establishing that a prior marriage
2-27 of the applicant has been dissolved; or
3-1 (C) a court order as provided by Section 2.103;
3-2 (5) checks "false" in response to a statement in the
3-3 application, except as provided by Subsection (b) or (d), or fails
3-4 to make a required declaration in an affidavit required of an
3-5 absent applicant; [or]
3-6 (6) indicates that the applicant has been divorced by
3-7 a decree of a court of this state within the last 30 days, unless:
3-8 (A) the applicants were divorced from each
3-9 other; or
3-10 (B) the prohibition against remarriage is waived
3-11 as provided by Section 6.802; or
3-12 (7) fails to submit the medical examination
3-13 certificate required by Section 2.010 or a waiver issued under
3-14 Section 2.0106.
3-15 SECTION 4. Section 2.010, Family Code, is amended to read as
3-16 follows:
3-17 Sec. 2.010. MEDICAL EXAMINATION CERTIFICATE [AIDS
3-18 INFORMATION]. (a) In this section:
3-19 (1) "Board" means the Texas Board of Health.
3-20 (2) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of public
3-21 health.
3-22 (3) "Department" means the Texas Department of Health.
3-23 (4) "HIV" means human immunodeficiency virus.
3-24 (5) "Sexually transmitted disease" means an infection,
3-25 with or without symptoms or clinical manifestations, that may be
3-26 transmitted from one person to another during, or as a result of,
3-27 sexual relations between the two persons and that may:
4-1 (A) produce a disease in, or otherwise impair
4-2 the health of, either person; or
4-3 (B) cause an infection or disease in a fetus in
4-4 utero or a newborn.
4-5 (b) Each person applying for a marriage license shall submit
4-6 a certificate to the county clerk verifying that the person has
4-7 undergone a serologic test approved by the board designed to
4-8 determine whether the person is infected with HIV or any other
4-9 sexually transmitted disease. The certificate must show that the
4-10 test was performed not earlier than six months before the date of
4-11 filing an application for the marriage license.
4-12 (c) A state, county, municipal, or private laboratory that
4-13 conducts standard serologic tests on blood samples submitted under
4-14 this section must be approved by the department. The board shall
4-15 adopt rules for approving laboratories, including rules
4-16 establishing:
4-17 (1) minimum standards of proficiency for a laboratory
4-18 that conducts standard serologic tests;
4-19 (2) procedures for the inspection and monitoring of
4-20 laboratories conducting standard serologic tests;
4-21 (3) criteria for the issuance, suspension, and
4-22 revocation of laboratory proficiency certification to perform
4-23 standard serologic tests; and
4-24 (4) criteria for approval and disapproval of serologic
4-25 tests and procedures.
4-26 (d) An applicant may apply to the laboratory in person for
4-27 the test or have a blood sample taken and submitted to the
5-1 laboratory for the test by a physician or other health professional
5-2 permitted by law to take a blood sample.
5-3 (e) The commissioner shall provide each county clerk with
5-4 the name of each approved laboratory in the county and shall
5-5 notify the county clerk of any additions, suspensions, or
5-6 revocations of approval of a laboratory.
5-7 (f) A state, county, or municipal laboratory shall conduct a
5-8 test required by this section without charge.
5-9 (g) The department is not required to approve a laboratory
5-10 under Subsection (c) or provide a list of approved laboratories
5-11 under Subsection (e) as long as the Clinical Laboratory Improvement
5-12 Amendments of 1988 (42 U.S.C. Section 263a), and subsequent
5-13 amendments, are in effect.
5-14 (h) The result of a standard test for HIV infection under
5-15 this section is a test result for purposes of Subchapter F, Chapter
5-16 81, Health and Safety Code.
5-17 (i) The department shall prepare printed materials to inform
5-18 the recipient about acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS),
5-19 HIV, and other sexually transmitted diseases and provide the
5-20 materials to the county clerks in the state and to other persons
5-21 who request the information. The printed materials [Materials
5-22 providing information about acquired immune deficiency syndrome
5-23 (AIDS) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) shall be prepared and
5-24 provided to the clerk by the Texas Department of Health and] shall
5-25 be designed to inform the applicants about:
5-26 (1) the incidence and mode of transmission of AIDS,
5-27 [and] HIV, and other sexually transmitted diseases;
6-1 (2) the treatments available for AIDS, HIV, and other
6-2 sexually transmitted diseases [the local availability of medical
6-3 procedures, including voluntary testing, designed to show or help
6-4 show whether a person has AIDS or HIV infection, antibodies to HIV,
6-5 or infection with any other probable causative agent of AIDS]; and
6-6 (3) methods to prevent the transmission of the HIV
6-7 virus and other sexually transmitted diseases [available and
6-8 appropriate counseling services regarding AIDS and HIV infection].
6-9 (j) Before a blood sample is taken for a test under this
6-10 section, the person taking the sample shall provide to the person
6-11 from whom the sample is taken the printed materials obtained from
6-12 the department under Subsection (i). The person taking the blood
6-13 sample shall note on the medical records that the printed materials
6-14 were provided. The county clerk shall provide the printed
6-15 materials to a person who obtains a waiver under Section 2.0106.
6-16 (k) If a serologic test conducted under this section shows
6-17 that an applicant is or may be infected with HIV, the physician or
6-18 other person who submitted the sample for the test shall provide or
6-19 make available to the applicant:
6-20 (1) information relating to treatment of HIV infection
6-21 and acquired immune deficiency syndrome, which must be in another
6-22 language, if needed, and must be presented, as necessary, in a
6-23 manner and in terms understandable to a person who may be
6-24 illiterate if resources permit; and
6-25 (2) counseling under Section 81.109, Health and Safety
6-26 Code.
6-27 (l) A physician or other person may comply with the
7-1 requirements of Subsection (k)(1) by referring the applicant to an
7-2 entity that provides treatment for persons with AIDS or infected
7-3 with HIV.
7-4 (m) The department shall prescribe the form of the medical
7-5 examination certificate. The board may adopt rules necessary to
7-6 implement this section.
7-7 SECTION 5. Subchapter A, Chapter 2, Family Code, is amended
7-8 by adding Sections 2.0105 and 2.0106 to read as follows:
7-9 Sec. 2.0105. OUT-OF-STATE APPLICANTS. An applicant who
7-10 resides in another state may have the serologic test required by
7-11 Section 2.010 performed by a laboratory approved by the official
7-12 health agency of that state. The medical examination certificate
7-13 may be completed by a physician who is licensed to practice
7-14 medicine in the other state or by a representative of the
7-15 laboratory that performed the test.
7-16 Sec. 2.0106. WAIVER OF BLOOD TEST REQUIREMENT. An applicant
7-17 may petition a judge authorized to issue a waiver under Section
7-18 2.204(c) for a written waiver permitting the county clerk to issue
7-19 a marriage license to the applicant without the serologic test
7-20 required by Section 2.010. The court may issue a waiver if the
7-21 court finds that the waiver will not adversely affect the public
7-22 health and welfare.
7-23 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
7-24 applies only to an application for a marriage license filed on or
7-25 after that date.
7-26 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
7-27 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
8-1 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
8-2 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
8-3 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.