H. B. 2520
(By Delegate J. Miller)
[Introduced February 17, 2009; 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 providing criminal 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; criminal 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 the
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 the following
information 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 method used;
(5) The approximate gestational age, in weeks, of the aborted fetus;
(6) The date 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 ever been subject
to professional sanction;
(9) The condition of the patient that led to treatment of, 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: (A) A fee-for-service insurance company; (B) a managed care
company; or (C) another type of health benefit.
(c) The physician report may 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 that would make it possible to identify in
any manner a woman who has obtained or seeks to obtain an abortion.
(d) The department has the following duties with respect to these reports:
(1) Summarizing aggregate data from the physician reports required under this
section for inclusion in an annual report;
(2) Developing and distributing or making available online in a downloadable
format a standardized form for the physician report;
(3) Communicating 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) Maintaining each physician report for five years from the date of its
receipt, and then destroying the report.
(e) The department or any department employee may neither maintain statistical
data that may reveal the identity of a woman who has obtained or seeks to obtain
an abortion, nor disclose to a person or entity outside the department the
contents of the physician or annual reports required under this section to
permit the person or entity to identify the woman.
(f) No state agency or employee may compare the data collected under this
section with data in another electronic or other information system to reveal in
any manner the identity of a woman who has obtained or seeks to obtain an
abortion.
(g) Nothing in this section is an instruction to discontinue collecting data
currently being collected.
(h) Except as provided in subsection (i), a person who wilfully violates the
provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be confined in jail not more than one year nor less than six
months or fined not more than $1000 nor less than $500, or both fined and
confined.
(i) A person who willfully discloses confidential identifying information in
violation of this section is guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof,
shall be imprisoned in a state correctional facility not less than one year nor
more than three years or fined not more than $5,000, or both imprisoned and
fined.
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.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law,
and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.