SB 261

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. To the information required in the report this bill adds 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 birth defect registry that

currently exists.

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. DHS is also required to publish annual demographic summaries of the

reported information except what reveals the identity of a patient, provider, or

facility. The bill eliminates the anonymity for the facility in which the abortion was

performed while retaining anonymity for the patient and the individual health care

provider. The bill requires reporting summaries of the information by hospital,

clinic, or other facility that reports performing an induced abortion.