Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(a) The purpose of
this section is to implement the monthly abortion reporting requirements under
Health and Safety Code (HSC) §245.011 for physicians who perform or induce
one or more abortions during the preceding calendar month. A report must be
submitted for each abortion performed or induced.
(b) The report may not identify by any means
the patient.
(c) The report must
include:
(1) whether the abortion facility at
which the abortion is performed is licensed under this chapter;
(2) the patient's year of birth, race,
marital status, and state and county of residence;
(3) the type of abortion procedure;
(4) the date the abortion was
performed;
(5) whether the patient
survived the abortion, and if the patient did not survive, the cause of
death;
(6) the probable
post-fertilization age of the unborn child based on the best medical judgment
of the attending physician at the time of the procedure;
(7) the date, if known, of the patient's last
menstrual cycle;
(8) the number of
previous live births of the patient;
(9) the number of previous induced abortions
of the patient;
(10) whether the
patient viewed the printed material provided under Health and Safety Code
Chapter 171;
(11) whether the
sonogram image, verbal explanation of the image, and the audio of the heart
sounds were made available to the patient;
(12) whether the patient completed the
"Abortion and Sonogram" election form;
(13) the method used to dispose of embryonic
and fetal tissue remains;
(14) if
the patient is younger than 18 years of age, as documented in the patient's
medical record, whether authorization for the abortion was obtained by:
(A) written consent of the patient's parent,
managing conservator, or legal guardian under Occupations Code §
164.052(a)(19)
and whether the consent was given:
(i) in
person at the location where the abortion was performed; or
(ii) at a place other than the location where
the abortion was performed;
(B) judicial authorization under Family Code
§
33.003 or
§
33.004 and:
(i) if applicable, the process the physician
or physician's agent used to inform the patient of the availability of
petitioning for judicial authorization as an alternative to the written consent
required by Occupations Code §
164.052(a)(19);
(ii) whether the court forms were provided to
the patient by the physician or the physician's agent;
(iii) whether the physician or the
physician's agent made arrangements for the patient's court appearance;
and
(iv) if known, whether the
patient became pregnant while in foster care or in the managing conservatorship
of the Department of Family and Protective Services;
(C) consent of the patient because the
patient had the disabilities of minority removed; or
(D) the physician's conclusion, documented in
the patient's medical record, that on the basis of the physician's good-faith
clinical judgment:
(i) a condition existed
that complicated the medical condition of the patient and necessitated the
immediate abortion to avert the patient's death or to avoid a serious risk of
substantial impairment of a major bodily function; and
(ii) there was insufficient time to obtain
the consent of the patient's parent, managing conservator, or legal
guardian;
(15)
the method of pregnancy verification;
(16) the type of anesthesia, if any, used in
the procedure: intravenous sedation or general anesthesia;
(17) whether the abortion was performed or
induced because of a medical emergency and any medical condition of the
pregnant woman that required the abortion;
(18) if the abortion was performed or induced
because of a medical emergency:
(A)
certification that the abortion was necessary due to a medical emergency;
and
(B) the woman's medical
condition requiring the abortion;
(19) if the abortion was performed or induced
to preserve the health of the pregnant woman:
(A) the medical condition the abortion was
asserted to address; and
(B) the
medical rationale for the physician's conclusion that the abortion was
necessary to address the medical condition; and
(20) for an abortion other than an abortion
described by subparagraph (19) of this subsection, that maternal health was not
a purpose of the abortion.
(d) Except as provided by HSC §245.023,
all information and records held by HHSC under this chapter are confidential
and are not open records for the purposes of Government Code Chapter 552. That
information may not be released or made public on subpoena, or otherwise,
except that release may be made:
(1) for
statistical purposes, but only if a person, patient, physician performing or
inducing an abortion, the county in which a minor obtained judicial
authorization for an abortion under Family Code Chapter 33, or abortion
facility is not identified;
(2)
with the consent of each person, patient, physician, and abortion facility
identified in the information released;
(3) to medical personnel, appropriate state
agencies, or county and district courts to enforce this chapter;
(4) to appropriate state licensing boards to
enforce state licensing laws; or
(5) to licensed medical or health care
personnel currently treating the patient.
(e) The reporting period for each physician
is the preceding calendar month in which the physician performed or induced one
or more abortions. Each physician who performs or induces one or more abortions
shall submit the abortion report(s) to HHSC no later than the 15th day of the
subsequent month.
(f) The abortion
reports shall be submitted via the secure electronic reporting system
established and maintained by HHSC.
(g) Not later than the seventh day after the
date the report required by this section is due, HHSC shall notify the Texas
Medical Board of a violation of this section.
(h) HHSC shall publish on its Internet
website a monthly report containing aggregate data of the information in the
reports submitted under this section. HHSC's monthly report may not identify by
any means an abortion facility, a physician performing or inducing an abortion,
the county in which a minor obtained judicial authorization for an abortion
under Family Code Chapter 33, or a patient.
