SB746

Report Title:

Abortion; Minors; Consent

Description:

Requires parental consent for minors to obtain an abortion except under certain circumstances.

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	746
TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

Relating to parental consent for abortions.

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

SECTION 1. The purpose of this Act is to require unmarried or unemancipated pregnant minors to seek the advice and counsel of a parent when faced with the difficult decision of whether or not to bear a child. This Act addresses the concerns of the U.S. Supreme Court in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992) regarding parental consent and reporting requirements.

SECTION 2. Chapter 577A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding two new sections to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§577A-A Parental consent required; minors, abortions. (a) No abortion shall be performed upon an unmarried or unemancipated minor without first obtaining the written consent of one of the minor's parents. This consent shall be provided on a form prescribed by the department of health and at a minimum shall contain the name of the minor, notification that the minor is pregnant and wishes to obtain an abortion, the signature of the parent authorizing the abortion, and a witness signature from the attending physician or the physician's authorized representative.

(b) If a parent is not available or refuses to give consent for an abortion, or if the minor elects not to seek consent of a parent, the minor may petition the family court for a waiver of the parental consent requirement of this section.

(1) The attending physician certifies in the minor's medical record that the abortion is necessary to prevent the minor's death and there is insufficient time to obtain the required consent; or

(2) The pregnant minor declares that she is a victim of sexual assault, harm, or child abuse or neglect as defined in sections 350-1 and 587-2, and chapter 707, parts V and VI, and the attending physician has notified the department of human services or the police department about the alleged sexual abuse, neglect, or child abuse.

Any other law to the contrary notwithstanding, a minor may not give consent, authorization, or otherwise permit an abortion to be conducted on the minor other than as provided in this subsection.

(d) For purposes of this section:

(1) "Abortion" means the use of any means, including but not limited to, operation or medical procedure, to terminate pregnancy;

(2) "Minor" means any person below the age of eighteen; and

(3) "Parent" means a biological, foster, or adoptive parent, or legal guardian.

(e) Any individual who knowingly, intentionally, or recklessly performs an abortion in violation of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

§577A-B Reporting requirements. (a) Within ninety days after the effective date of this Act, the department of health shall prepare a reporting form for physicians to list:

(1) The number of minors for whom the physician or an agent of the physician received written consent from one parent pursuant to section 577A-A;

(2) The number of minors upon whom the physician performed an abortion without obtaining the written consent of a parent as described in section 577A-A, and of that number:

(A) The number who were emancipated minors;

(B) The number who were married;

(C) The number for whom the attending physician certifies in the minor's medical record that the abortion is necessary to prevent the minor's death and there is insufficient time to obtain the required consent; and

(D) The number who, through petitioning the family court, received a waiver of the parental consent requirement.

(b) The department of health shall ensure that copies of the form described are distributed or made available within one hundred twenty days after the effective date of this Act to all physicians licensed to practice in this State.

(c) By February 28 of each year, each physician who obtained, or whose agent obtained, the consent described in section 577A-A and any physician who knowingly performed an abortion upon a minor female the previous calendar year shall submit to the department of health a copy of the form described in subsection (a) with the requested data entered accurately and completely.

(d) For reports that are not submitted by the due date the physician shall be subject to a late fee of $500 for each thirty-day period or portion of a thirty-day period they are overdue. Any physician required to report in accordance with this section who has not submitted a report, or has submitted only an incomplete report, more than one year following the due date, in an action brought by the department of health, may be directed by a court of competent jurisdiction to submit a complete report within a period stated by court order or be subject to sanctions for civil contempt.

(e) By June 30 of each year, the department of health shall issue a public report providing statistics for the previous calendar year compiled from all of the reports covering that year submitted in accordance with this section."

SECTION 3. If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the Act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are severable.

SECTION 4. In codifying the new sections added to chapter 577A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, by section 2 of this Act, the revisor of statutes shall substitute appropriate section numbers for the letters used in designating the new sections in this Act.

SECTION 5. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________