H. B. 4664
(By Delegate Boggs)
[Introduced February 21, 2006; referred to the
Committee on Health and Human Resources then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto
a new section, designated §16-2I-11, relating to reporting requirements for
physicians and the Department of Health and Human Resources when it is
suspected that a woman has suffered injury or death due to an induced
abortion; contents of the reports; duties of the department; and penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a
new section, designated §16-2I-11, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2I. WOMEN'S RIGHT TO KNOW ACT.
§16-2I-11. Reporting requirements when it is suspected that a woman suffered
injury or death due to induced abortion; contents; physician duties;
department duties; penalties.
(a) A physician shall file a written report with the Department of Health and
Human Resources regarding each patient who comes under the physician's
professional care and requires physical medical treatment or suffers death that
the attending physician has a reasonable basis to believe is a primary,
secondary or tertiary result of an induced abortion.
(b) The report shall be submitted within thirty days of the discharge or death
of the patient treated for the complication, and shall contain all the following
information that is available to the physician:
(1) The patient's age and race;
(2) The patient's residency status, including city and county of residence;
(3) The patient's marital status, education, number of previous pregnancies,
number of stillbirths, number of living children and number of previous
abortions;
(4) The date the abortion was performed and the method used if known;
(5) The approximate gestational age, in weeks, of the aborted fetus;
(6) The date on which the abortion complication was diagnosed;
(7) The name and type of facility where the abortion was performed;
(8) Whether the physician performing an induced abortion has been subject to
license revocation or suspension or other professional sanction;
(9) The condition of the patient that led to treatment, including, but not
limited to, pelvic infection, hemorrhage, damage to pelvic organs, renal
failure, metabolic disorder, shock, embolism, coma or death;
(10) The type of anesthetic, if any, used for each induced abortion; and
(11) The amount billed to cover the treatment of the complication, including
whether under: (i) A fee-for-service insurance company; (ii) a managed care
company; or (iii) another type of health benefit.
(c) The physician report shall not contain the name of the woman, common
identifiers such as her social security number or motor vehicle operator's
license number, or other information or identifiers that would make it possible
to identify in any manner or under any circumstances an individual who has
obtained or seeks to obtain an abortion.
(d) With respect to these reports, the department shall have the following
duties:
(1) Summarize aggregate data from the physician reports required under this
section for purposes of inclusion in an annual report;
(2) Develop and distribute or make available online in a downloadable format a
standardized form for the physician report;
(3) Communicate this reporting requirement to all medical professional
organizations, licensed physicians, hospitals, emergency rooms, abortion
facilities, department clinics and ambulatory surgical facilities operating in
the state; and
(4) Maintain each physician report for five years from the date of its receipt,
and thereafter shall destroy the report.
(e) The department shall not maintain statistical data that may reveal the
identity of a woman obtaining or seeking to obtain an abortion, nor shall the
department or any department employee disclose to a person or entity outside the
department the reports or the contents of the reports required under this
section in a manner or fashion as to permit the person or entity to whom the
report is disclosed to identify in any way the person who is the subject of the
report.
(f) No state agency or employee thereof shall compare the data collected under
this section with data in another electronic or other information system that
would result in revealing in any manner or under any circumstances the identity
of a woman obtaining or seeking to obtain an abortion.
(g) Nothing in this section shall be construed as an instruction to discontinue
collecting data currently being collected.
(h) Violations of the provisions of the section are subject to the following
penalties:
(1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, willful violation
of the provisions of this section shall constitute a misdemeanor which, upon
conviction, shall be punished by imprisonment of not more than one year nor less
than six months, by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars nor less than
five hundred dollars, or both.
(2) Disclosure of confidential identifying information in violation of this
section shall constitute a felony which, upon conviction, shall be punished by
imprisonment for not more than three years, or a fine of not more than five
thousand dollars, or both.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require physicians to report to the
Department of Health and Human Resources when he or she believes that a woman
has suffered injury or death due to an induced abortion, to impose duties on the
Department of Health and Human Resources regarding these reports and to outline
penalties for violations.
§16-2I-11 is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been
omitted.