HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	156
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

Requesting the Department of health to adopt rules RELATING TO counseling of pregnant women who have undergone prenatal testing that establishes or is likely to establish a diagnosis of a disability.

     WHEREAS, Down syndrome and other disabilities can be prenatally diagnosed through tests such as maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein, human chorionic gonadotropin and unconjugated oestriol, amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling, and through noninvasive prenatal screening methods; and

     WHEREAS, these prenatal tests vary in their ability to accurately diagnose prenatal disabilities; and

     WHEREAS, from 1987 to 1996, three hundred six cases of Down syndrome were reported in Hawaii, forty-three per cent of these cases were prenatally diagnosed, and the pregnancies in eighty-six per cent of those prenatally diagnosed cases were electively terminated; and

     WHEREAS, elective termination of pregnancies in prenatally diagnosed cases has resulted in targeted discrimination against not only Down syndrome cases, but other disabilities discovered by various prenatal tests ranging from spina bifida to cleft palate; and

     WHEREAS, selectively terminating pregnancies based on the supposed mental or physical capacity of the fetus is a form of discrimination often resulting from misinformation about quality of life concerns and long-term care options; and

     WHEREAS, the Department of Health is authorized to adopt rules to ensure that all pregnant women are offered appropriate information and services relating to prenatal screening and diagnosis; and

     WHEREAS, in many cases, after prenatal screening and diagnosis has been administered, pregnant women do not receive all applicable information on available resources to care for children who are born after being prenatally diagnosed with disabilities; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2016, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Health is requested to adopt rules relating to counseling of pregnant women who have undergone prenatal testing that establishes or is likely to establish a diagnosis of a disability, including but not limited to the following:

     (1)  Requiring that medical professionals provide each pregnant woman with information on where to obtain support in all cases in which a prenatal test establishes or is likely to establish a diagnosis of Down syndrome or any other disorder amenable to prenatal diagnosis;

     (2)  Prohibiting persons from purposely performing or inducing or attempting to perform or induce an abortion on a pregnant woman for whom a prenatal test establishes or is likely to establish a diagnosis of Down syndrome or any other disorder amenable to prenatal diagnosis until that person has knowledge that the pregnant woman has received information about prenatal, neonatal, and long-term care resources available in the public and private domains, unless an abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant woman;

     (3)  Requiring the Department of Health to maintain an updated list of national and local resources focused on care beneficial to the life and well-being of a child born with a mental or physical disability and make this list available to medical professionals; and

     (4)  Requiring medical professionals to maintain a record of counseling provided to pregnant women inclusive of the list of resources as provided by the Department of Health, which shall be subject to inspection routinely or as preferred or required by the Department of Health; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health and the Executive Director of the Hawaii Medical Association.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Prenatal Health Care Disclosure