H. B. 2878
(By Delegate Ashley)
[Introduced February 27, 2009; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §16-2L-1, §16-2L-2,
§16-2L-3, §16-2L-4 and §16-2L-5, all relating to
requiring
physicians to file regular reports with the Department of
Health and Human Resources regarding patients who require
medical treatment as a result of an abortion; and providing
criminal penalties for violation.
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 article, designated §16-2L-1, §16-2L-2,
§16-2L-3, §16-2L-4 and §16-2L-5, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2L. ABORTION COMPLICATION REPORTING ACT.
§16-2L-1. Short title.
This article shall be known and may be cited as the Abortion
Complication Reporting Act.
§16-2L-2. Definitions.
As used in this article:
(1) "Medical treatment" means, but is not limited to,
hospitalization, laboratory tests, surgery or prescription of
drugs.
(2) "Department" means the State Department of Health and
Human Resources.
§16-2L-3. Physician to file report.
(a) A physician shall file a written report with the State
Department of Health and Human Resources regarding each patient who
comes under the physician's professional care and requires 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) These reports shall be submitted within thirty days of
the discharge or death of the patient treated for the complication.
(c) The department shall summarize aggregate data from the
reports required under this section for purposes of inclusion into
the annual vital statistics report.
(d) The department shall develop and distribute or make
available online in a downloadable format a standardized form for
the report required under this section.
(e) The department shall communicate this reporting
requirement to all medical professional organizations, licensed physicians, hospitals, emergency rooms, abortion facilities, and
ambulatory surgical facilities operating in the state.
(f) The department shall destroy each individual report
required by this section and each copy of the report after
retaining the report for five years after the date the report is
received.
(g) The report required under this section 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 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. A state agency may not
compare data in an electronic or other information system file with
data in another electronic or other information system that would
result in identifying in any manner or under any circumstances an
individual obtaining or seeking to obtain an abortion. Statistical
information that may reveal the identity of a woman obtaining or
seeking to obtain an abortion may not be maintained.
(h) The department or an employee of the department may not
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.
(i) Disclosure of confidential identifying information in
violation of this section is a felony which, upon conviction, shall
be punished by imprisonment in a state correctional facility for
not more than three years, or a fine of not more than $5,000, or
both.
§16-2L-4. Information to be included in report.
(a) Each report of medical treatment following abortion
required under section four of this article shall contain the
following information:
(1) The age and race of the patient;
(2) The characteristics of the patient, including residency
status, county of residence, marital status, education, number of
previous pregnancies, number of stillbirths, number of living
children and number of previous abortions;
(3) The date the abortion was performed and the method used if
known;
(4) The type of facility where the abortion was performed;
(5) 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; and
(6) The amount billed to cover the treatment of the
complication, including whether the treatment was billed to
Medicaid, insurance, private pay or other method. This should include charges for physician, hospital, emergency room,
prescription or other drugs, laboratory tests and any other costs
for the treatment rendered.
(b) Nothing in this article shall be construed as an
instruction to discontinue collecting data currently being
collected.
§16-2L-5. Criminal penalties.
Willful violation of the provisions of this article is a
misdemeanor and punishable by a fine of $100, except that
disclosure of confidential identifying information is a felony,
punishable by imprisonment in a state correctional facility for not
more than three years, or a fine of not more than $5,000, or both.
No physician or hospital, its officers, employees or medical and
nursing personnel practicing in the hospital is civilly liable for
violation of the provisions of this article, except to the extent
of liability for actual damages in a civil action for willful or
reckless and wanton acts or omissions constituting that violation.
However, that liability is subject to any immunities or limitations
of liability or damages provided by law.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require physicians to
file regular reports with the Department of Health and Human
Resources, regarding patients who require medical treatment as a
result of an abortion; providing criminal penalties for violation.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.