AB 590

Generally, this bill prohibits certain sales and uses of fetal body parts derived

from an unborn child aborted by an induced abortion and requires arrangement for

final disposition of the fetal body parts by a physician who performs the induced

abortion. The bill also requires reporting of certain information after an induced

abortion.

Current law prohibits a person from knowingly and for valuable consideration

acquiring, receiving, or otherwise transferring a human organ. Current federal law

prohibits a person from knowingly acquiring, receiving, or otherwise transferring,

in interstate commerce, any fetal tissue for valuable consideration. This bill

prohibits a person from knowingly acquiring, providing, receiving, or using a fetal

body part in this state, regardless of whether the acquisition, provision, receipt, or

use is for valuable consideration. A fetal body part, as defined in the bill, is tissue,

an organ, or another part of an unborn child that is obtained after and as a result of

an induced abortion of the unborn child occurring after the effective date of the bill.

The bill's prohibition does not apply to use of a fetal body part for diagnostic or

remedial tests, procedures, or observations which have the sole purpose of

determining the life or health of the unborn child in order to provide that information

to the mother or preserving the life or health of the child, unborn child, or the child's

mother.

The bill requires a physician who performs an induced abortion to arrange for

final disposition by burial, interment, entombment, or cremation of the fetal body

parts. A person who is acting exclusively in furtherance of final disposition of a fetal

body part is not guilty of violating the prohibitions in the bill.

This bill requires a hospital, clinic, or other facility in which an induced

abortion is performed to report additional information in its required annual report

to the Department of Health Services. Under current law, the report must include,

among other pieces of information, for each patient, the state, and county if

Wisconsin, of residence; certain demographic information; the month and year in

which the abortion was performed; the number of weeks since the patient's last

menstrual period; whether the abortion was chemically or surgically induced or

surgically induced following a failed chemical abortion; any resulting complications;

and certain information for abortions of an unborn child capable of experiencing

pain. This bill adds to the information required in the report the sex of the aborted

unborn child if the sex can be determined by visual inspection, whether the aborted

unborn child had a fetal anomaly, and the nature of the fetal anomaly if the aborted

unborn child had one. Under the bill, DHS must incorporate information reported

regarding an aborted unborn child's fetal anomaly in the existing birth defect

registry.