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.