SB 772 - This act creates the "Abortion-inducing Drugs Safety Act" and delineates the procedures for prescribing and administering the drug RU-486 (mifepristone) or any other drug administered for the purpose of inducing an abortion. This act provides that no person who is not a physician shall knowingly prescribe or administer the drug RU-486 or any other abortion-inducing drug. Prior to prescribing the drug, the physician shall have, at least 24 hours prior to the administration of the drug:
-Complied with all other legal requirements for an abortion to be performed or induced;
-Physically examined the patient;
-Documented in the patient's medical record the gestational age and whether there was an ectopic pregnancy; and
-Provide the patient with a copy of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved label or labels for the drug regardless of whether the drug has been approved by the FDA or the drug manufacturer to induce an abortion.
This act also provides that the drug RU-486 or any other abortion-inducing drug, including a drug administered during a subsequent visit to complete the abortion, shall only be administered in a hospital or in an abortion facility in the physical presence of a physician and not via the Iinternet or webcam or any other video device.
The abortion facility shall also be licensed as an ambulatory surgical center if any second or third trimester abortions or five or more first trimester abortions per month are induced at the facility. A physician is prohibited from prescribing or administering the abortion-inducing drug unless he or she has: (1) clinical privileges at a hospital which offers obstetrical or gynecological care located within 30 miles of the location at which the abortion is induced and (2)privileges at the hospital or at the abortion facility where the drug or drugs were administered to perform surgical intervention, including but not limited to surgical abortion.
If a patient who was administered the drug decides to carry her unborn child to term before the abortion is completed, the patient must immediately be referred to another physician to receive medical assistance for herself and the unborn child. A physician who prescribes or administers such drugs must obtain, in addition to all other medical malpractice requirements, a tail or occurrence-based insurance policy of at least $1 million per occurrence and $3 million in the aggregate per year for damages for the personal injury to or death of a child who is born alive after an attempted abortion. The insurance must remain in full force and effect until the child reaches his or her twenty-first birthday, or later under the current statute of limitations for medical malpractice actions.
Any person who is not a physician who prescribes or administers such drugs will be guilty of a Class C felony, except that, if prescribed or administered without the knowledge or consent of the patient, he or she will be guilty of a Class B felony. A physician who violates any other provision of the act will be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
This act is identical to HB 1274 (2012) and portions of this act are contained in SB 658 (2012).
ADRIANE CROUSE