Requiring a determination of probable postfertilization age of an unborn child before abortion, prohibiting abortion of an unborn child considered capable of experiencing pain, informed consent, abortion reporting, and providing a criminal penalty. (FE)

month and year in which the abortion was performed; education; number of weeks since patient's last menstrual period; whether the abortion was chemically or surgically induced or surgically induced following a failed chemical abortion; and any resulting complications. If the patient is a minor, the report must contain whether consent for the abortion was provided and by whom; and, if consent was not provided, on which basis the abortion was performed. Under current law, DHS is required to collect the reported information in a manner that ensures anonymity of the patient who obtained the abortion, the health care provider who performed the abortion, and the facility in which the abortion was performed. Under current law, DHS is required to publish annual demographic summaries of the reported information except what reveals the identity of a patient, provider, or facility.

The bill requires the hospital, clinic, or other facility to report the probable postfertilization age of the unborn child and whether ultrasound was used to assist in that determination of postfertilization age; or, if the probable postfertilization age of the unborn child was not determined, the nature of the medical emergency. If the unborn child is considered capable of experiencing pain, the bill requires reporting of the nature of the pregnant woman's medical emergency and a statement of whether the method of abortion used was one that provided the best opportunity for the unborn child's survival.

Under current law, a woman upon whom an abortion is to be performed or induced must give voluntary and informed written consent to an abortion. Except in a medical emergency, a woman's consent to an abortion is considered informed only if, at least 24 hours before the abortion is performed or induced, the physician or an assistant has, in person, orally provided the woman with certain information and given to the woman certain written materials. If the pregnancy is the result of sexual assault or incest, the 24-hour period, but not the provision of information, may be waived or reduced under certain circumstances. In addition to the current requirement to inform the woman, orally and in writing, of the probable gestational age, the bill requires that the woman be informed, orally and in writing, of the probable postfertilization age of the unborn child and the numerical odds of survival for an unborn child delivered at that probable postfertilization age. The bill also requires that the woman be orally informed of and provided written materials on the availability of perinatal hospice.