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Idaho Statutes
Idaho Statutes are updated to the website July 1 following the legislative session.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
CHAPTER 95
ABORTION COMPLICATIONS REPORTING ACT
39-9502. legislative findings and purpose. (1) The legislature of the state of Idaho asserts and finds that:
(a) The state "has legitimate interests from the outset of pregnancy in protecting the health of women," as found by the United States Supreme Court in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey;
(b) Specifically, the state "has a legitimate concern with the health of women who undergo abortions," as found by the United States Supreme Court in Akron v. Akron Ctr. for Reproductive Health, Inc.;
(c) Surgical abortion is an invasive procedure that can cause severe physical and psychological complications for women, both short-term and long-term, including, but not limited to, uterine perforation, cervical perforation, infection, bleeding, hemorrhage, blood clots, failure to actually terminate the pregnancy, incomplete abortion, retained tissue, pelvic inflammatory disease, endometritis, missed ectopic pregnancy, cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest, renal failure, metabolic disorder, shock, embolism, coma, placenta previa in subsequent pregnancies, preterm delivery in subsequent pregnancies, free fluid in the abdomen, adverse reactions to anesthesia and other drugs, an increased risk for developing breast cancer, psychological or emotional complications such as depression, suicidal ideation, anxiety and sleeping disorders, and death;
(d) To facilitate reliable scientific studies and research on the safety and efficacy of abortion, it is essential that the medical and public health communities have access to accurate information both on the abortion procedure and on complications resulting from abortion;
(e) Abortion "record keeping and reporting provisions that are reasonably directed to the preservation of maternal health and that properly respect a patient’s confidentiality and privacy are permissible," according to the United States Supreme Court in Planned Parenthood v. Danforth;
(f) Abortion and complication reporting provisions do not impose an undue burden on a woman’s right to choose whether or not to terminate a pregnancy. Specifically, the "collection of information with respect to actual patients is a vital element of medical research, and so it cannot be said that the requirements serve no purpose other than to make abortions more difficult," as found by the United States Supreme Court in Planned Parenthood v. Casey;
(g) The use of RU-486 as part of a chemical abortion can cause significant medical risks including, but not limited to, abdominal pain, cramping, vomiting, headache, fatigue, uterine hemorrhage, infections and pelvic inflammatory disease;
(h) The risk of abortion complications increases with advancing gestational age;
(i) Studies document that increased rates of complications, including incomplete abortion, occur even within the gestational limit approved by the federal food and drug administration (FDA);
(j) In July 2011, the FDA reported two thousand two hundred seven (2,207) adverse events after women used RU-486 for abortions. Among these events were fourteen (14) deaths, six hundred twelve (612) hospitalizations, three hundred thirty-nine (339) blood transfusions, and two hundred fifty-six (256) infections, including forty-eight (48) severe infections;
(k) The adverse event reports systems relied upon by the FDA have limitations and typically detect only a small proportion of events that actually occur. Furthermore, the FDA has failed to publicly release data since 2011, and it is necessary to develop a state-based information system in the wake of court rulings legalizing telemedicine abortions; and
(l) To promote its interest in maternal health and life, the state of Idaho maintains an interest in:
(i) Collecting information on all complications from all abortions performed in the state; and
(ii) Compiling statistical reports based on abortion complication information collected pursuant to this chapter for future scientific studies and public health research.
(2) Based on the findings in subsection (1) of this section, it is the purpose of this chapter to promote the health and safety of women by adding to the sum of medical and public health knowledge through the compilation of relevant data on all abortions performed in the state, as well as on all medical complications and maternal deaths resulting from these abortions.
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