Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that establishes a criminal offense relating to abortion reporting and exemptions to abortion facility licensing.

Highlights:

• Requires a physician who performs an abortion at a location other than an abortion facility licensed under Chapter 245 to complete and submit a monthly report to the commission on each abortion performed by the physician. The report must be submitted on a form provided by the commission (Sec. 1.a).

• Prohibits the report from identifying by any means the patient (Sec. 1.b).

• Requires the report to include the following (Sec. 1.c):

• The type of facility at which the abortion was performed and the licensing status of that facility;

• The patient's year of birth, race, marital status, and state and county of residence;

• The type of abortion procedure performed;

• The date the abortion was performed;

• Whether the patient survived the abortion, and if the patient did not survive, the cause of death;

• The probable post-fertilization age of the unborn child based on the best medical judgment of the attending physician at the time of the procedure;

• The date, if known, of the patient's last menstrual cycle;

• The number of previous live births of the patient;

• The number of previous induced abortions of the patient; and

• The county in which the abortion was performed.

• Establishes all information and records held by the commission under this law are confidential and are not open records. That information may not be released or made public on subpoena or otherwise, except that release may be made (Sec. 1.d):

• For statistical purposes, but only if a person, patient, or physician performing an abortion is not identified;

• With the consent of each person, patient, and physician identified in the information released;

• To medical personnel, appropriate state agencies, or county and district courts to enforce this chapter; or

• To appropriate state licensing boards to enforce state licensing laws.

• Establishes a person commits an offense if the person violates these subsections. An offense under this law is a Class A misdemeanor (Sec. 1.e).

• Requires a physician to submit to the commission the report required by this law for each abortion performed by the physician at a location other than an abortion facility in the preceding calendar month (Sec. 1.f).

• Requires the commission to create and maintain a secure electronic reporting system for the submission of the reports required by this law. The commission will adopt procedures to enforce this law and to ensure that only physicians who perform one or more abortions during the preceding calendar month are required to file the reports under this law for that month (Sec. 1.g).

Full Bill Text