87R10301 TYPED
 
  By: Paxton, et al. S.B. No. 802
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to a required resource access assistance offer before an
  abortion is performed.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 171, Health and Safety
  Code, is amended by adding Section 171.01205 to read as follows:
         Sec. 171.01205.  REQUIRED PRE-ABORTION RESOURCE ACCESS
  ASSISTANCE OFFER. (a) In addition to the informed consent
  requirements under Section 171.012, except during a medical
  emergency, and before the abortion is performed, the physician who
  is to perform an abortion shall confirm the pregnant woman received
  a pre-abortion resource access assistance offer, as required by
  this section, by:
               (1)  verifying that the unique identifying number
  provided to the woman as required by Subsection (d) is recorded in a
  secure database maintained by the commission; and
               (2)  documenting the pregnant woman's unique
  identifying number in the woman's medical record.
         (b)  A care agent providing a resource access assistance
  offer under this section:
               (1)  must be:
                     (A)  licensed as a counselor, doctor,
  psychologist, social worker, nurse, advanced practice registered
  nurse, community health worker, physician's assistant, or marriage
  and family therapist; or
                     (B)  acting under the supervision of an individual
  described by Paragraph (A);
               (2)  must not:
                     (A)  have performed an abortion in the last two
  years;
                     (B)  have served as a director, board member,
  officer, volunteer, or employee for an abortion facility licensed
  under Chapter 245;
               (3)  may not refer women to an abortion provider,
  recommend abortion, or take any other action that directly or
  indirectly advises or assists a woman in obtaining an abortion;
               (4)  must be authorized under a contract with the
  commission to provide resource access assistance offers and support
  services on behalf of this state in accordance with this section;
  and
               (5)  must complete a training program on identifying
  and assisting victims of human trafficking using a standardized
  curriculum created by the human trafficking prevention task force
  established under Section 402.035, Government Code.
         (c)  The resource access assistance offer must be provided by
  and on behalf of this state at no cost to the pregnant woman from a
  care agent who meets the qualifications described by Subsection
  (b). The care agent during a resource access assistance offer shall
  provide:
               (1)  medically accurate information using the
  informational materials described by Section 171.014;
               (2)  an assessment of eligibility for and offer of
  assistance in obtaining support services other than abortion for
  the pregnant woman or unborn child's biological father, including
  housing, employment, resume development, child care, prenatal and
  postpartum medical care, mental health or behavioral counselling,
  adoption services, financial assistance, abuse or neglect
  prevention assistance, substance or alcohol abuse prevention
  assistance, and health benefit plan coverage;
               (3)  education on available public and private
  resources to address the pregnant woman's or biological father's
  socioeconomic needs; and
               (4)  screening for:
                     (A)  family violence, abuse, and neglect
  victimization;
                     (B)  coercion of abortion; and
                     (C)  human trafficking victimization.
         (d)  After providing the resource access assistance offer,
  the care agent or the contracting agency that employs the care agent
  shall:
               (1)  certify to the commission using a unique
  identifying number, devoid of personally identifying information
  of the pregnant woman, that the pregnant woman received the
  resource access assistance offer; and
               (2)  provide to the pregnant woman the identifying
  number described by Subdivision (1).
         (e)  A care agent shall report to the commission
  de-identified demographic information obtained through a resource
  access assistance offer provided under this section to assist the
  commission in determining the supply and demand of social services
  in the pregnant woman's geographic region.
         (f)  The commission shall develop and maintain on the
  commission's Internet website a secure database to store the unique
  identifying numbers provided under Subsection (d) and that allows
  the care agent to submit the de-identified information required
  under Subsection (e).
         (g)  The commission shall establish a single toll-free
  telephone number through which a woman seeking an abortion in this
  state may receive a resource access assistance offer on a 24-hour
  basis. The commission must ensure the placed call automatically
  routes the woman to a care agent at a contracting agency to provide
  the resource access assistance offer.
         (h)  The pregnant woman:
               (1)  is not required to provide any information to the
  care agent or agency;
               (2)  is not required to initiate or complete services
  offered under this section in order to obtain an abortion;
               (3)  may decline services under this section at any
  time; and
               (4)  if accepting a resource assistance offer, shall
  have the offer available for two calendar years regardless of the
  pregnant woman's pregnancy.
         SECTION 2.  Section 171.0121, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 171.0121.  MEDICAL RECORD. (a)  Before the abortion
  begins, a copy of the signed, written certification received by the
  physician under Section 171.012(a)(6) and documentation of the
  receipt of the resource access assistance offer required under
  Section 171.01205 must be placed in the pregnant woman's medical
  records.
         (b)  A copy of the signed, written certification required
  under Sections 171.012(a)(5) and (6) and documentation of the
  receipt of the resource access assistance offer required under
  Section 171.01205 shall be retained by the facility where the
  abortion is performed until:
               (1)  the seventh anniversary of the date it is signed;
  or
               (2)  if the pregnant woman is a minor, the later of:
                     (A)  the seventh anniversary of the date it is
  signed; or
                     (B)  the woman's 21st birthday.
         SECTION 3.  (a)  Notwithstanding Section 171.01205, Health
  and Safety Code, as added by this Act, and Section 171.0121, Health
  and Safety Code, as amended by this Act, a physician is not required
  to comply with the changes in law made by this Act before April 1,
  2023.
         (b)  Not later than August 31, 2022, the executive
  commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall
  adopt rules as necessary to implement this Act.
         (c)  Not later than April 1, 2023, the Health and Human
  Services Commission shall contract with one or more contracting
  agencies that employ care agents throughout this state to provide
  the pre-abortion resource access assistance offer and assistance in
  obtaining support services described by Section 171.01205, Health
  and Safety Code, as added by this Act.
         SECTION 4.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
  an abortion performed on or after April 1, 2023. An abortion
  performed before April 1, 2023, is governed by the law applicable to
  the abortion immediately before the effective date of this Act, and
  that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 5.  It is the intent of the legislature that every
  provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word
  in this Act, and every application of the provisions in this Act to
  each person or entity, are severable from each other. If any
  application of any provision in this Act to any person, group of
  persons, or circumstances is found by a court to be invalid for any
  reason, the remaining applications of that provision to all other
  persons and circumstances shall be severed and may not be affected.
         SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.