REPORT TITLE:
Abortion, Minors


DESCRIPTION:
Requires parental consent for a minor to obtain an abortion.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.2406
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO PARENTAL CONSENT FOR ABORTIONS.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The purpose of this Act is to require unmarried
 
 2 or unemancipated pregnant minors to seek the advice and counsel
 
 3 of a parent when faced with the difficult decision of whether or
 
 4 not to bear a child.
 
 5      SECTION 2.  Chapter 577A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 6 amended by adding two new sections to be appropriately designated
 
 7 and to read as follows:
 
 8      "§577A-A  Parental consent required; minors, abortions.  (a)
 
 9 No abortion shall be performed upon an unmarried or unemancipated
 
10 minor without first obtaining the written consent of one of the
 
11 minor's parents or legal guardians.  This consent shall be
 
12 provided on a form prescribed by the department of health and at
 
13 a minimum shall contain the name of the minor, notification that
 
14 the minor is pregnant and wishes to obtain an abortion, the
 
15 signature of the parent or legal guardian authorizing the
 
16 abortion, and a witness signature from the attending physician or
 
17 the physician's authorized representative.
 
18      (b)  If a parent or legal guardian is not available or
 
19 refuses to give consent for an abortion, or if the minor elects
 

 
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 1 not to seek consent of a parent or legal guardian, the minor may
 
 2 petition the family court for a waiver of the parental consent
 
 3 requirement of this section.
 
 4      (c)  No consent shall be required under this section if:
 
 5      (1)  The attending physician certifies in the minor's
 
 6           medical record that the abortion is necessary to
 
 7           prevent the minor's death and there is insufficient
 
 8           time to obtain the required consent; or
 
 9      (2)  The pregnant minor declares that she is a victim of
 
10           sexual abuse, neglect, harm or child abuse as defined
 
11           in sections 350-1 and 587-2, and chapter 707, parts V
 
12           and VI, and the attending physician has notified the
 
13           department of human services or the police department
 
14           about the alleged sexual abuse, neglect, or child
 
15           abuse.
 
16      (d)  For purposes of this section, "minor" means any person
 
17 below the age of eighteen.
 
18      (e)  For purposes of this section, "parent" means a
 
19 biological, foster or adoptive parent or legal guardian.
 
20      (f)  For purposes of this section, "abortion" means the use
 
21 of any means, including but not limited to, operation or medical
 
22 procedure, to terminate pregnancy.
 
23      (g)  Any individual who knowingly, intentionally, or
 

 
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 1 recklessly performs an abortion in violation of this section
 
 2 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
 
 3      §577A-B  Reporting requirements.  (a)  Within ninety days
 
 4 after the effective date of this Act, the department of health
 
 5 shall prepare a reporting form for physicians to list:
 
 6      (1)  The number of minors for whom the physician or an agent
 
 7           of the physician received written consent from one
 
 8           parent pursuant to section 577A-A;
 
 9      (2)  The number of minors upon whom the physician performed
 
10           an abortion without obtaining the written consent of a
 
11           parent as described in section 577A-A, and of that
 
12           number:
 
13           (A)  The number who were emancipated minors;
 
14           (B)  The number for whom the attending physician
 
15                certifies in the minor's medical record that the
 
16                abortion is necessary to prevent the minor's death
 
17                and there is insufficient time to obtain the
 
18                required consent; and
 
19           (C)  The number who, through petitioning the family
 
20                court, received a waiver of the parental consent
 
21                requirement.
 
22      (b)  The department of health shall ensure that copies of
 
23 the form described are distributed or made available within one
 

 
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 1 hundred twenty days after the effective date of this Act to all
 
 2 physicians licensed to practice in this State.
 
 3      (c)  By February 28 of each year, each physician who
 
 4 obtained, or whose agent obtained, the consent described in
 
 5 section 577A-A and any physician who knowingly performed an
 
 6 abortion upon a minor female the previous calendar year shall
 
 7 submit to the department of health a copy of the form described
 
 8 in subsection (a) with the requested data entered accurately and
 
 9 completely.
 
10      (d)  For reports that are not submitted by the due date the
 
11 physician shall be subject to a late fee of $500 for each
 
12 thirty-day period or portion of a thirty-day period they are
 
13 overdue.  Any physician required to report in accordance with
 
14 this section who has not submitted a report, or has submitted
 
15 only an incomplete report, more than one year following the due
 
16 date, in an action brought by the department of health, may be
 
17 directed by a court of competent jurisdiction to submit a
 
18 complete report within a period stated by court order or be
 
19 subject to sanctions for civil contempt.
 
20      (e)  By June 30 of each year, the department of health shall
 
21 issue a public report providing statistics for the previous
 
22 calendar year compiled from all of the reports covering that year
 
23 submitted in accordance with this section."
 

 
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 1      SECTION 3.  Section 577A-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended to read as follows:
 
 3      "§577A-2 Consent valid.  The consent to the provision of
 
 4 medical care and services by public and private hospitals or
 
 5 public and private clinics, or the performance of medical care
 
 6 and services by a physician licensed to practice medicine, when
 
 7 executed [by a female minor who is or professes to be pregnant,
 
 8 or] by a minor who is or professes to be afflicted with a
 
 9 venereal disease, or a minor seeking family planning services
 
10 shall be valid and binding as if the minor had achieved his or
 
11 her majority as the case may be; that is, [a female minor who is,
 
12 or professes to be pregnant, or] a minor who is, or professes to
 
13 be afflicted with a venereal disease, or a minor seeking family
 
14 planning services shall be deemed to have, and shall have the
 
15 same legal capacity to act, and the same legal obligations with
 
16 regard to the giving of such consent to such hospitals and such
 
17 clinics or medical care and services to be provided by a
 
18 physician licensed to practice medicine, as a person of full
 
19 legal age and capacity, the infancy of the minor and any contrary
 
20 provisions of law notwithstanding, and such consent shall not be
 
21 subject to later disaffirmance by reason of such minority; and
 
22 the consent of no other person or persons (including, but not
 
23 limited to a spouse, parent, custodian, or guardian) shall be
 

 
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 1 necessary in order to authorize such hospitals or such clinics or
 
 2 medical care and services provided by a physician licensed to
 
 3 practice medicine, to such a minor."
 
 4      SECTION 4.  If any provision of this Act, or the application
 
 5 thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the
 
 6 invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of
 
 7 the Act which can be given effect without the invalid provision
 
 8 or application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are
 
 9 severable.
 
10      SECTION 5.  In codifying the new sections added to chapter
 
11 577A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, by section 2 of this Act, the
 
12 revisor of statutes shall substitute appropriate section numbers
 
13 for the letters used in designating the new sections in this Act.
 
14      SECTION 6.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
15 New statutory material is underscored.
 
16      SECTION 7.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
17 
 
18                           INTRODUCED BY:_________________________
 
19 
 
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