Rep. Brandon W. Phelps

Filed: 3/10/2011

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 786

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 786 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Ultrasound Opportunity Act.
 
6    Section 5. Legislative findings and purpose.
7    (a) The General Assembly finds as follows:
8        (1) Ultrasound requirements serve an essential medical
9    purpose in confirming the presence, location, and
10    gestational age of a pregnancy.
11        (2) Ultrasound requirements also serve an essential
12    medical purpose in diagnosing ectopic pregnancies which,
13    if left undiagnosed, can result in infertility or even
14    fatal blood loss.
15        (3) Furthermore, it is critical to the psychological
16    and physical well-being of a woman considering an abortion

 

 

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1    that she receive complete and accurate information on the
2    reality and status of her pregnancy and of her unborn
3    child.
4        (4) The decision to abort "is an important, and often a
5    stressful one, and it is desirable and imperative that it
6    be made with full knowledge of its nature and
7    consequences". Planned Parenthood v. Danforth, 428 U.S.
8    52, 67 (1976).
9    (b) Based on the findings in subsection (a) of this
10Section, the purposes of this Act are to:
11        (1) protect the physical health and welfare of every
12    woman considering an abortion;
13        (2) ensure that every woman considering an abortion
14    receive complete information on the reality and status of
15    her pregnancy and of her unborn child and that every woman
16    submitting to an abortion do so only after giving her
17    voluntary and informed consent to the abortion procedure;
18        (3) protect the unborn child from a woman's uninformed
19    decision to have an abortion; and
20        (4) reduce "the risk that a woman may elect an
21    abortion, only to discover later, with devastating
22    psychological consequences, that her decision was not
23    fully informed". Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833,
24    882 (1992).
 
25    Section 10. Definitions. Unless the language or context

 

 

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1clearly indicates a different meaning is intended, the
2following words or phrases for the purpose of this Act shall be
3given the meaning ascribed to them:
4    "Abortion" means the use of any instrument, medicine, drug,
5or any other substance or device to terminate the pregnancy of
6a woman known to be pregnant with an intention other than to
7increase the probability of a live birth, to preserve the life
8or health of the child after live birth, or to remove a dead
9fetus.
10    "Medical emergency" means a condition that, on the basis of
11the physician's good faith clinical judgment, so complicates
12the medical condition of a pregnant woman as to necessitate the
13immediate abortion of her pregnancy to avert her death or for
14which a delay will create serious risk of substantial and
15irreversible impairment of major bodily function.
16    "Physician" means any person licensed to practice medicine
17in all its branches under the Medical Practice Act of 1987.
18    "Qualified person" means a person having documented
19evidence that he or she has completed a course in the operation
20of ultrasound equipment and is in compliance with any other
21requirements of law regarding the operation of ultrasound
22equipment.
 
23    Section 15. Offer of ultrasound required.
24    (a) At any facility where abortions are performed the
25physician who is to perform the abortion, the referring

 

 

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1physician, or another qualified person working in conjunction
2with either physician shall offer any woman seeking an abortion
3after 6 weeks of gestation an opportunity to receive and view
4an active ultrasound of her unborn child by someone qualified
5to perform ultrasounds at the facility, or at a facility listed
6in a listing of local ultrasound providers provided by the
7facility, at least one hour prior to the woman having any part
8of an abortion performed or induced, and prior to the
9administration of any anesthesia or medication in preparation
10for the abortion.
11    (b) The ultrasound shall be performed by a qualified person
12or persons. The active ultrasound image must be of a quality
13consistent with standard medical practice. The woman's
14response to the offer must be documented by the facility,
15including the date and time of the offer and the woman's
16signature attesting to her informed decision to accept or
17decline the offer.
 
18    Section 20. Reports. The Department of Public Health shall
19prepare and make available a reporting form, to be submitted by
20each abortion facility to the Department annually. The form
21shall provide for the collection of the following information:
22        (1) The number of women who chose to view an ultrasound
23    of their unborn children pursuant to this Act and the
24    number who did not; and of each of those numbers, the
25    number who, to the best of the reporting facility's

 

 

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1    information and belief, went on to obtain the abortion.
2        (2) The name of the facility.
3        (3) The date of the report.
 
4    Section 25. Medical emergency. The requirements under this
5Act shall not apply when, in the medical judgment of the
6physician performing or inducing the abortion based on the
7particular facts of the case before him or her, there exists a
8medical emergency.
 
9    Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
10severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
 
11    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
12becoming law.".