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79R8791 YDB-F

By:  Dukes                                                        H.B. No. 2278



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the dissemination of accurate information on voluntary 
and informed consent for an abortion.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 171.012(a), Health and Safety Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
	(a)  Except in the case of a medical emergency, consent to an 
abortion is voluntary and informed only if:
		(1)  the physician who is to perform the abortion or the 
referring physician informs the woman on whom the abortion is to be 
performed of:
			(A)  the name of the physician who will perform 
the abortion;              
			(B)  the particular medical risks associated with 
the particular abortion procedure to be employed, including, when 
medically accurate:
				(i)  the risks of infection and hemorrhage; 
and                    
				(ii)  the potential danger to a subsequent 
pregnancy and of infertility; [and
				[(iii)  the possibility of increased risk of 
breast cancer following an induced abortion and the natural 
protective effect of a completed pregnancy in avoiding breast 
cancer;]
			(C)  the probable gestational age of the unborn 
child at the time the abortion is to be performed; and
			(D)  the medical risks associated with carrying 
the child to term;         
		(2)  the physician who is to perform the abortion or the 
physician's agent informs the woman that:
			(A)  medical assistance benefits may be available 
for prenatal care, childbirth, and neonatal care;
			(B)  the father is liable for assistance in the 
support of the child without regard to whether the father has 
offered to pay for the abortion;
			(C)  public and private agencies provide 
pregnancy prevention counseling and medical referrals for 
obtaining pregnancy prevention medications or devices, including 
emergency contraception for victims of rape or incest; and
			(D)  the woman has the right to review the printed 
materials described by Section 171.014, that those materials have 
been provided by the [Texas] Department of State Health Services 
and are accessible on an Internet website sponsored by the 
department, and that the materials describe the unborn child and 
list agencies that offer alternatives to abortion;
		(3)  the woman certifies in writing before the abortion 
is performed that the information described by Subdivisions (1) and 
(2) has been provided to her and that she has been informed of her 
opportunity to review the information described by Section 171.014; 
and
		(4)  before the abortion is performed, the physician 
who is to perform the abortion receives a copy of the written 
certification required by Subdivision (3).
	SECTION 2.  (a)  By not later than December 1, 2005, the 
Department of State Health Services shall:
		(1)  revise the informational materials the department 
is required to publish under Section 171.014, Health and Safety 
Code; and
		(2)  make the materials available for distribution.                           
	(b)  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to the 
abortion information a physician is required to provide under 
Section 171.012, Health and Safety Code, on or after January 1, 
2006.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.