STAND. COM. REP. NO. 451

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: H.B. No. 866

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 866 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH CARE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require, and appropriate funds for, the Department of Health to stockpile a one-year supply of mifepristone.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from one member of the Hawaiʻi County Council; AAUW of Hawaii; Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi; Indivisible Hawaiʻi; Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi Women's Caucus; American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi Education Caucus; Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute; Fujiwara & Rosenbaum LLLC; and numerous individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from five individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Health.

Your Committee finds that developments in the nation's legal landscape threaten the reproductive health care rights of people in Hawaii. Legislative efforts and legal challenges from anti-abortion State lawmakers on the mainland could lead to nationwide restrictions and potential federal actions could be used to ban mifepristone throughout the country. Your Committee further finds that by stockpiling mifepristone, the State ensures continued access to medication-based abortions, especially given limited in-person services and potential supply chain disruptions. This measure reinforces the State's longstanding commitment to privacy, bodily autonomy, and reproductive rights.

Your Committee notes the appropriation amount of $75,000 in this measure for the purchase of mifepristone and respectfully requests the Department of Health to develop a storage and distribution plan, particularly for neighbor islands.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Providing the Department of Health with the flexibility to coordinate the stockpiling of mifepristone in quantities no less than a one-year supply;

(2) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 866, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 866, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

____________________________

GREGG TAKAYAMA, Chair