87R8402 JG-F
 
  By: White H.B. No. 2760
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the right to choose and refuse medical treatment and
  control measures and to the imposition of isolation or quarantine
  control measures.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  The heading to Section 81.009, Health and Safety
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 81.009.  EXEMPTION FROM MEDICAL TREATMENT; RIGHT TO
  CHOOSE OR REFUSE MEDICAL TREATMENT AND CONTROL MEASURES.
         SECTION 2.  Section 81.009, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to
  read as follows:
         (a)  This chapter does not authorize or require the medical
  treatment of an individual who chooses treatment by prayer or
  spiritual means [as part of the tenets and practices of a recognized
  church of which the individual is an adherent or member]. However,
  the individual may be isolated or quarantined from the public [in an
  appropriate facility] and shall obey the rules, orders, and
  instructions of the department or health authority while in
  isolation or quarantine.
         (c)  Notwithstanding other law, an individual retains the
  right to choose and make decisions regarding the medical treatment
  provided to the individual or the individual's child and the right
  to refuse:
               (1)  a medical treatment or procedure;
               (2)  a medical test;
               (3)  a physical or mental examination;
               (4)  an immunization;
               (5)  an experimental procedure or protocol;
               (6)  the collection of a specimen;
               (7)  participation in a tracking or tracing program;
               (8)  participation in wearing a medical or other
  protective device;
               (9)  participation in maintaining a measured distance
  from other individuals or animals, unless the distance is required
  by law or under a court order unrelated to this chapter; and
               (10)  involuntary disclosure of personal data or
  medical information.
         SECTION 3.  Subchapter E, Chapter 81, Health and Safety
  Code, is amended by adding Section 81.0825 to read as follows:
         Sec. 81.0825.  REQUIREMENTS FOR IMPOSITION OF CONTROL
  MEASURES INVOLVING ISOLATION OR QUARANTINE FOR INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP.
  (a) Before ordering an individual or a group of individuals to
  implement control measures under Section 81.083 or 81.085 that
  involve isolation or quarantine, the department or a health
  authority must:
               (1)  provide notice of the control measures to the
  individual or group of individuals;
               (2)  provide to the individual or group of individuals
  an opportunity to demonstrate that the implementation of control
  measures is not necessary; and
               (3)  obtain from a district court in a county in which
  the individual or group of individuals resides, is located, or is
  receiving court-ordered health services a court order authorizing
  the department or health authority to order the individual or group
  of individuals to implement control measures.
         (b)  To obtain a court order under Subsection (a)(3), the
  department or health authority must demonstrate to the court by
  clear and convincing evidence that the individual or group of
  individuals is infected with or is reasonably suspected of being
  infected with a communicable disease that presents a threat to
  public health. The department or health authority must submit to
  the court any evidence the individual or group provides to the
  department or health authority under Subsection (a)(2).
         (c)  In ordering an individual or group of individuals to
  implement control measures under Section 81.083 or 81.085 that
  involve isolation or quarantine, the department or a health
  authority to the greatest extent possible must:
               (1)  use the least restrictive means available; and
               (2)  allow an individual to isolate or quarantine in
  the individual's home or with a family member, a friend, or another
  individual with whom the individual is involved in a romantic
  relationship.
         SECTION 4.  Sections 81.083(b) and (k), Health and Safety
  Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (b)  If the department or a health authority has reasonable
  cause to believe that an individual is ill with, has been exposed
  to, or is the carrier of a communicable disease, the department or
  health authority may, subject to Section 81.0825, order the
  individual, or the individual's parent, legal guardian, or managing
  conservator if the individual is a minor, to implement control
  measures that are reasonable and necessary to prevent the
  introduction, transmission, and spread of the disease in this
  state.
         (k)  If the department or a health authority has reasonable
  cause to believe that a group of five or more individuals has been
  exposed to or infected with a communicable disease, the department
  or health authority may, subject to Section 81.0825, order the
  members of the group to implement control measures that are
  reasonable and necessary to prevent the introduction,
  transmission, and spread of the disease in this state.  If the
  department or health authority adopts control measures under this
  subsection, each member of the group is subject to the requirements
  of this section.
         SECTION 5.  Sections 81.085(a) and (c), Health and Safety
  Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  If an outbreak of communicable disease occurs in this
  state, the commissioner or one or more health authorities may,
  subject to Section 81.0825, impose an area quarantine coextensive
  with the area affected. The commissioner may impose an area
  quarantine, if the commissioner has reasonable cause to believe
  that individuals or property in the area may be infected or
  contaminated with a communicable disease, for the period necessary
  to determine whether an outbreak of communicable disease has
  occurred. A health authority may impose the quarantine only within
  the boundaries of the health authority's jurisdiction.
         (c)  The department may, subject to Section 81.0825, impose
  additional disease control measures in a quarantine area that the
  department considers necessary and most appropriate to arrest,
  control, and eradicate the threat to the public health. Absent
  preemptive action by the department under this chapter or by the
  governor under Chapter 418, Government Code (Texas Disaster Act of
  1975), a health authority may impose in a quarantine area under the
  authority's jurisdiction additional disease control measures that
  the health authority considers necessary and most appropriate to
  arrest, control, and eradicate the threat to the public health.
         SECTION 6.  Section 81.009(b), Health and Safety Code, is
  repealed.
         SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.