76-7-305.5.   Requirements for printed materials and informational video -- Annual report of Department of Health.
     (1) In order to insure that a woman's consent to an abortion is truly an informed consent, the Department of Health shall publish printed materials and produce an informational video in accordance with the requirements of this section. The department and each local health department shall make those materials and a viewing of the video available at no cost to any person. The printed material and the informational video shall be comprehensible and contain all of the following:
     (a) geographically indexed materials informing the woman of public and private services and agencies available to assist her, financially and otherwise, through pregnancy, at childbirth, and while the child is dependent, including services and supports available under Section 35A-3-308. Those materials shall contain a description of available adoption services, including a comprehensive list of the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of public and private agencies and private attorneys whose practice includes adoption, and explanations of possible available financial aid during the adoption process. The information regarding adoption services shall include the fact that private adoption is legal, and that the law permits adoptive parents to pay the costs of prenatal care, childbirth, and neonatal care. The printed information and video shall present adoption as a preferred and positive choice and alternative to abortion. The department may, at its option, include printed materials that describe the availability of a toll-free 24-hour telephone number that may be called in order to obtain, orally, the list and description of services, agencies, and adoption attorneys in the locality of the caller;
     (b) truthful and nonmisleading descriptions of the probable anatomical and physiological characteristics of the unborn child at two-week gestational increments from fertilization to full term, accompanied by pictures or video segments representing the development of an unborn child at those gestational increments. The descriptions shall include information about brain and heart function and the presence of external members and internal organs during the applicable stages of development. Any pictures used shall contain the dimensions of the fetus and shall be realistic and appropriate for that woman's stage of pregnancy. The materials shall be designed to convey accurate scientific information about an unborn child at the various gestational ages, and to convey the state's preference for childbirth over abortion;
     (c) truthful, nonmisleading descriptions of abortion procedures used in current medical practice at the various stages of growth of the unborn child, the medical risks commonly associated with each procedure, including those related to subsequent childbearing, the consequences of each procedure to the fetus at various stages of fetal development, the possible detrimental psychological effects of abortion, and the medical risks associated with carrying a child to term;
     (d) any relevant information on the possibility of an unborn child's survival at the two-week gestational increments described in Subsection (1)(b);
     (e) information on the availability of medical assistance benefits for prenatal care, childbirth, and neonatal care;
     (f) a statement conveying that it is unlawful for any person to coerce a woman to undergo an abortion;
     (g) a statement conveying that any physician who performs an abortion without obtaining the woman's informed consent or without according her a private medical consultation in accordance with the requirements of this section, may be liable to her for damages in a civil

action at law;
     (h) a statement conveying that the state prefers childbirth over abortion; and
     (i) information regarding the legal responsibility of the father to assist in child support, even in instances where he has agreed to pay for an abortion, including a description of the services available through the Office of Recovery Services, within the Department of Human Services, to establish and collect that support.
     (2) (a) The printed material described in Subsection (1) shall include a separate brochure that contains truthful, nonmisleading information regarding:
     (i) the ability of an unborn child to experience pain during an abortion procedure;
     (ii) the measures that may be taken, including the administration of an anesthetic or analgesic to an unborn child, to alleviate or eliminate pain to an unborn child during an abortion procedure;
     (iii) the effectiveness and advisability of taking the measures described in Subsection (2)(a)(ii); and
     (iv) potential medical risks to a pregnant woman that are associated with the administration of an anesthetic or analgesic to an unborn child during an abortion procedure.
     (b) A person or facility is not required to provide the information described in Subsection (2)(a) to a patient or potential patient, if the abortion is to be performed:
     (i) on an unborn child who is less than 20 weeks gestational age at the time of the abortion; or
     (ii) on an unborn child who is at least 20 weeks gestational age at the time of the abortion, if:
     (A) the abortion is being performed for a reason described in Subsection 76-7-302(3)(b)(i); and
     (B) due to a serious medical emergency, time does not permit compliance with the requirement to provide the information described in Subsection (2)(a).
     (3) (a) The materials described in Subsections (1) and (2) shall be produced and printed in a way that conveys the state's preference for childbirth over abortion.
     (b) The printed material described in Subsections (1) and (2) shall be printed in a typeface large enough to be clearly legible.
     (4) Except as provided in Subsection (2)(b), every facility in which abortions are performed shall immediately provide the printed informed consent materials and a viewing of or a copy of the informational video described in Subsections (1) and (2) to any patient or potential patient prior to the performance of an abortion, unless the patient's attending or referring physician certifies in writing that he reasonably believes that provision of the materials or video to that patient would result in a severely adverse effect on her physical or mental health.
     (5) The Department of Health shall produce a standardized videotape that may be used statewide, containing all of the information described in Subsection (1), in accordance with the requirements of Subsections (1) and (3). In preparing the video, the department may summarize and make reference to the printed comprehensive list of geographically indexed names and services described in Subsection (1)(a). The videotape shall, in addition to the information described in Subsection (1), show an ultrasound of the heart beat of an unborn child at three weeks gestational age, at six to eight weeks gestational age, and each month thereafter, until 14 weeks gestational age. That information shall be presented in a truthful, nonmisleading manner designed to convey accurate scientific information, the state's preference for childbirth over

abortion, and the positive aspects of adoption.
     (6) The Department of Health and local health departments shall provide ultrasounds in accordance with the provisions of Subsection 76-7-305(2)(b), at no expense to the pregnant woman.
     (7) The Department of Health shall compile and report the following information annually, preserving physician and patient anonymity:
     (a) the total amount of informed consent material described in Subsections (1) and (2) that was distributed;
     (b) the number of women who obtained abortions in this state without receiving those materials;
     (c) the number of statements signed by attending physicians certifying to the physicians' opinion regarding adverse effects on the patient under Subsection (4); and
     (d) any other information pertaining to protecting the informed consent of women seeking abortions.

Amended by Chapter 57, 2009 General Session
Download Code Section Zipped WordPerfect 76_07_030505.ZIP 5,434 Bytes

Sections in this Chapter|Chapters in this Title|All Titles|Legislative Home Page

Last revised: Thursday, May 28, 2009