BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 938

By: Davis, Sarah

Public Health

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Texas reportedly has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy and repeat teen pregnancy in the United States. Given that the state Medicaid program pays for the majority of these births, each additional birth poses an extra cost to state taxpayers. C.S.H.B. 938 seeks to decrease the repeat teen pregnancy rate by allowing teenage mothers to consent to examination or contraception‑related medical treatment other than abortion.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

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

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 938 amends the Family Code to include among the children who may consent to their own medical, dental, psychological, and surgical treatment by a licensed physician or dentist a child who is an unmarried mother of a child and who consents to examination or contraception‑related medical treatment other than abortion. For such purposes, "contraception" means any reversible method of preventing pregnancy that is FDA approved.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2019.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 938 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute revises the definition of "contraception" to include the specification that an applicable contraception method is a reversible method.