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H0559......................................................by STATE AFFAIRS
HEALTH AND WELFARE - Amends existing law to revise duties of the Department
of Health and Welfare regarding the availability of certain materials about
abortion on their website; and to provide duties of certain physicians
regarding notice of these materials to the pregnant patient.
02/25 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/26 Rpt prt - to Health/Wel
03/11 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/12 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/13 3rd rdg - PASSED - 55-10-5
AYES -- Anderson, Andrus, Barrett, Bayer, Bedke, Bell, Black, Block,
Bock, Boe, Bolz, Bowers, Brackett, Bradford, Chadderdon, Chew, Clark,
Collins, Crane, Durst, Eskridge, Hart, Harwood, Henbest, Henderson,
Jaquet, Kren, Loertscher, Luker, Marriott, Mathews, McGeachin,
Mortimer, Moyle, Nielsen, Nonini, Patrick, Raybould, Roberts, Ruchti,
Rusche, Schaefer, Shepherd(02), Shepherd(08), Shirley, Shively,
Smith(24), Snodgrass, Stevenson, Thayn, Thomas, Wills, Wood(27),
Wood(35), Mr. Speaker
NAYS -- Chavez, Killen, King, LeFavour, Pasley-Stuart, Pence, Ringo,
Sayler, Smith(30), Trail
Absent and excused -- Bilbao, Hagedorn, Labrador, Lake, Vander Woude
Floor Sponsor - Luker
Title apvd - to Senate
03/13 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to St Aff
03/24 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/25 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/26 3rd rdg - PASSED - 29-6-0
AYES -- Andreason, Bair, Bastian, Bilyeu, Broadsword, Cameron,
Coiner, Corder, Darrington, Davis, Fulcher, Gannon(Gannon), Geddes,
Goedde, Hammond, Heinrich, Hill, Jorgenson, Keough, Little, Lodge,
McGee, McKague, McKenzie, Pearce, Richardson, Siddoway, Stegner,
Stennett
NAYS -- Burkett, Kelly, Langhorst, Malepeai(Sagness), Schroeder, Werk
Absent and excused -- None
Floor Sponsors - McKenzie & Jorgenson
Title apvd - to House
03/26 To enrol - Rpt enrol - Sp signed
03/27 Pres signed
03/28 To Governor
04/01 Governor signed
Session Law Chapter 348
Effective: 01/01/09 with mandate
prior to that date regarding website
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]] Fifty-ninth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2008IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 559 BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE 1 AN ACT 2 RELATING TO ABORTION; AMENDING SECTION 18-609, IDAHO CODE, TO REVISE DUTIES OF 3 THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND WELFARE AND CERTAIN PHYSICIANS REGARDING CER- 4 TAIN MATERIALS ABOUT ABORTION AND NOTICE ABOUT THESE MATERIALS TO THE 5 PREGNANT PATIENT; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE AND PROVIDING DUTIES OF THE 6 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND WELFARE PRIOR TO THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS ACT. 7 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 8 SECTION 1. That Section 18-609, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 9 amended to read as follows: 10 18-609. PHYSICIANS AND HOSPITALS NOT TO INCUR CIVIL LIABILITY -- CONSENT 11 TO ABORTION -- NOTICE. (1) Any physician may perform an abortion not prohib- 12 ited by this act and any hospital or other facility described in section 13 18-608, Idaho Code, may provide facilities for such procedures without, in the 14 absence of negligence, incurring civil liability therefor to any person 15 including, but not limited to, the pregnant patient and the prospective father 16 of the fetus to have been born in the absence of abortion, if informed consent 17 for such abortion has been duly given by the pregnant patient. 18 (2) In order to provide assistance in assuring that the consent to an 19 abortion is truly informed consent, the director of the department of health 20 and welfare shall publish easily comprehended, nonmisleading and medically 21 accurate printed material to be made available at no expense to physicians, 22 hospitals or other facilities providing abortion and abortion-related ser- 23 vices, and which shall contain the following: 24 (a) Descriptions of the services available to assist a woman through a 25 pregnancy, at childbirth and while the child is dependent, including adop- 26 tion services, a comprehensive list of the names, addresses, and telephone 27 numbers of public and private agencies that provide such services and 28 financial aid available; 29 (b) Descriptions of the physical characteristics of a normal fetus, 30 described at two (2) week intervals, beginning with the fourth week and 31 ending with the twenty-fourth week of development, accompanied by scien- 32 tifically verified photographs of a fetus during such stages of develop- 33 ment. The description shall include information about physiological and 34 anatomical characteristics; and 35 (c) Descriptions of the abortion procedures used in current medical prac- 36 tices at the various stages of growth of the fetus and any reasonable 37 foreseeable complications and risks to the mother, including those related 38 to subsequent child bearing. 39 (3) (a) The department of health and welfare shall develop and maintain a 40 stable internet website, that may be part of an existing website, to pro- 41 vide the information described in subsection (2) of this section. No 42 information regarding persons using the website shall be collected or 43 maintained. The department of health and welfare shall monitor the website 2 1 on a weekly basis to prevent and correct tampering. 2 (b) As used in this section, "stable internet website" means a website 3 that, to the extent reasonably practicable, is safeguarded from having its 4 content altered other than by the department of health and welfare. 5 (c) When a pregnant patient contacts a physician by telephone or visit 6 and inquires about obtaining an abortion, the physician or the physician's 7 agent before or while scheduling an abortion-related appointment must pro- 8 vide the woman with the address of the state-sponsored internet website on 9 which the printed materials described in subsection (2) of this section 10 may be viewed as required in subsection (2) of this section. 11 (4) Except in the case of a medical emergency, no abortion shall be per- 12 formed unless, prior to the abortion, the attending physician or the attending 13 physician's agent certifies in writing that the materials provided by the 14 director have been provided to the pregnant patient at least twenty-four (24) 15 hours before the performance of the abortion. If the materials are not avail- 16 able from the director of the department of health and welfare, no certifica- 17 tion shall be required. The attending physician, or the attending physician's 18 agent, shall provide any other information required under this act. 19 (5) All physicians or their agents who use ultrasound equipment in the 20 performance of an abortion shall inform the patient that she has the right to 21 view the ultrasound image of her unborn child before an abortion is performed. 22 If the patient requests to view the ultrasound image, she shall be allowed to 23 view it before an abortion is performed. The physician or agent shall also 24 offer to provide the patient with a physical picture of the ultrasound image 25 of her unborn child prior to the performance of the abortion, and shall pro- 26 vide it if requested by the patient. In addition to providing the material, 27 the attending physician may provide the pregnant patient with such other 28 information which in the attending physician's judgment is relevant to the 29 pregnant patient's decision as to whether to have the abortion or carry the 30 pregnancy to term. 31 (46) Within thirty (30) days after performing any abortion without certi- 32 fication and delivery of the materials, the attending physician, or the 33 attending physician's agent, shall cause to be delivered to the director of 34 the department of health and welfare, a report signed by the attending physi- 35 cian, preserving the patient's anonymity, denoting the medical emergency that 36 excused compliance with the duty to deliver the materials. The director of the 37 department of health and welfare shall compile the information annually and 38 report to the public the total number of abortions performed in the state 39 where delivery of the materials was excused; provided that any information so 40 reported shall not identify any physician or patient in any manner which would 41 reveal their identities. 42 (57) If section 18-608(3), Idaho Code, applies to the abortion to be per- 43 formed and the pregnant patient is an adult and for any reason unable to give 44 a valid consent thereto, the requirement for that pregnant patient's consent 45 shall be met as required by law for other medical or surgical procedures and 46 shall be determined in consideration of the desires, interests and welfare of 47 the pregnant patient. 48 (68) The knowing failure of the attending physician to perform any one 49 (1) or more of the acts required under subsection (46) of this section or sec- 50 tion 39-261, Idaho Code, is grounds for discipline pursuant to section 51 54-1814(6), Idaho Code, and shall subject the physician to assessment of a 52 civil penalty of one hundred dollars ($100) for each month or portion thereof 53 that each such failure continues, payable to the vital statistics unit of the 54 department of health and welfare, but such failure shall not constitute a 55 criminal act. 3 1 SECTION 2. This act shall be in full force and effect on and after Janu- 2 ary 1, 2009, and the Department of Health and Welfare shall have authority to 3 and shall place a notice on its website no later than November 30, 2008, of 4 the address of the website required by this act and shall provide notice to 5 the State Board of Medicine of the Department of Health and Welfare's website 6 address required by this act.
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STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 17849C3
Existing law under section 18-609, Idaho Code, requires the
Department of Health and Welfare to publish printed material for
the purpose of providing information to pregnant patients
considering an abortion. This bill requires the Department of
Health and Welfare to place that material on a secure website.
The bill also requires physicians or their agents when setting an
abortion-related appointment to advise the patient of the website
address.
FISCAL NOTE
There is a fiscal impact of approximately $27,000 for both
copyrighted photos and secure website development.
Contact
Name: Rep. Lynn Luker
Rep. Ken Roberts
Rep. Janice McGeachin
Russ Mathews
Senator Curt McKenzie
Senator Mike Jorgenson
Phone: 332-1000
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE H 559
REVISED REVISED REVISED REVISED