HF 952

3rd Engrossment - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to health; providing for grants related to
positive abortion alternatives; appropriating money;
proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes,
chapter 145.

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

Section 1. new text begin SHORT TITLE.
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new text begin This act may be cited as the "Positive Alternatives Act."
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Sec. 2.

new text begin [145.4231] POSITIVE ABORTION ALTERNATIVES.
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new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Definitions. new text end

new text begin For purposes of this
section, the following terms have the meanings given:
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new text begin (1) "abortion" means the use of any means to terminate the
pregnancy of a woman known to be pregnant with knowledge that
the termination with those means will, with reasonable
likelihood, cause the death of the unborn child. For purposes
of this section, abortion does not include an abortion necessary
to prevent the death of the mother; and
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new text begin (2) "unborn child" means an individual organism of the
species Homo sapiens from fertilization until birth.
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new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Eligibility for grants. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner of
health shall award grants to eligible applicants under paragraph
(c) for the reasonable expenses of programs to support,
encourage, and assist women in carrying their pregnancies to
term by providing information on, referral to, and assistance
with securing necessary services that enable women to carry
their pregnancies to term. Necessary services include, but are
not limited to:
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new text begin (1) medical care;
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new text begin (2) nutritional services;
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new text begin (3) housing assistance;
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new text begin (4) adoption services;
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new text begin (5) education and employment assistance;
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new text begin (6) parenting education and support services; and
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new text begin (7) child care assistance.
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new text begin (b) In addition to providing information and referral under
paragraph (a), an eligible program may provide one or more of
the necessary services under paragraph (a) that assists women in
carrying their pregnancies to term. To avoid duplication of
efforts, grantees may refer to other public or private programs,
rather than provide the care directly, if a woman meets
eligibility criteria for the other programs.
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new text begin (c) To be eligible for a grant, an agency or organization
must:
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new text begin (1) be a private, nonprofit organization;
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new text begin (2) demonstrate that the program is conducted under
appropriate supervision;
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new text begin (3) not charge women for services provided under the
program;
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new text begin (4) provide each pregnant woman counseled with accurate
information on the developmental characteristics of unborn
children, including offering the printed information described
in section 145.4243;
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new text begin (5) ensure that the alternatives to abortion program's sole
purposes are to assist and encourage women in carrying their
pregnancies to term and to maximize their potentials thereafter;
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new text begin (6) ensure that none of the funds provided are used to
encourage or counsel a woman to have an abortion not necessary
to prevent her death, to provide her such an abortion, or to
refer her for such an abortion; and
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new text begin (7) have had the alternatives to abortion program in
existence for at least one year as of July 1, 2005.
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new text begin (d) The provisions, words, phrases, and clauses of
paragraph (c) are inseverable from this subdivision, and if any
provision, word, phrase, or clause of paragraph (c) or the
application thereof to any person or circumstance is held
invalid, such invalidity shall apply to all of this subdivision.
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new text begin (e) An organization that provides abortions, promotes
abortions, or directly refers for abortions is ineligible to
receive a grant under this program. An affiliate of an
organization that provides abortions, promotes abortions, or
directly refers for abortions is ineligible to receive a grant
under this section unless the organizations are separately
incorporated and independent from each other. To be
independent, the organizations may not share any of the
following:
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new text begin (1) the same or a similar name;
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new text begin (2) medical facilities or nonmedical facilities, including,
but not limited to, business offices, treatment rooms,
consultation rooms, examination rooms, and waiting rooms;
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new text begin (3) expenses;
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new text begin (4) employee wages or salaries; or
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new text begin (5) equipment or supplies, including, but not limited to,
computers, telephone systems, telecommunications equipment, and
office supplies.
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new text begin (f) An organization that receives a grant under this
section and that is affiliated with an organization that
provides abortion services must maintain financial records that
demonstrate strict compliance with this subdivision and that
demonstrate that its independent affiliate that provides
abortion services receives no direct or indirect economic or
marketing benefit from the grant under this section.
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new text begin (g) The following data on participants is private data on
individuals under section 13.02, subdivision 12: all data
collected, received, maintained, or disseminated by the grantee
using grant funds awarded by the commissioner under this section.
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new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Duties of commissioner. new text end

new text begin The commissioner of
health shall make grants under subdivision 2 beginning no later
than July 1, 2006. The commissioner shall monitor and review
the programs of each grantee to ensure that the grantee
carefully adheres to the purposes and requirements of
subdivision 2 and shall cease funding a grantee that fails to do
so.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Severability. new text end

new text begin Except as provided in subdivision
2, paragraph (d), if any provision, word, phrase, or clause of
this section or the application thereof to any person or
circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect
the provisions, words, phrases, clauses, or applications of this
section that can be given effect without the invalid provision,
word, phrase, clause, or application and to this end, the
provisions, words, phrases, and clauses of this section are
declared to be severable.
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new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Supreme court jurisdiction. new text end

new text begin The Minnesota
Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over an action
challenging the constitutionality of this section and shall
expedite the resolution of the action.
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Sec. 3. new text begin APPROPRIATIONS; DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH.
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new text begin $2,500,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the
commissioner of health in fiscal year 2007 for positive abortion
alternatives under Minnesota Statutes, section 145.4231. Of this
amount, $100,000 may be used for administrative costs of
implementing the grant program. An additional $50,000 is
appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of health
in fiscal year 2006 for administrative costs of program
implementation.
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