HF 226

1st Engrossment - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to health; requiring reporting on
notification that is required before an abortion is
performed on a minor or certain other women; providing
civil penalties; amending Minnesota Statutes 2004,
section 13.3806, by adding a subdivision; proposing
coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 144.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 13.3806, is
amended by adding a subdivision to read:

Subd. 21.

Abortion notification data.

Classification of
data in abortion notification reports is governed by section
144.3431.

Sec. 2.

[144.3431] ABORTION NOTIFICATION DATA.

Subdivision 1.

Reporting form.

(a) Within 90 days of the
effective date of this section, the commissioner of health shall
prepare a reporting form for use by physicians and facilities
performing abortions.

(b) The form shall require the following information:

(1) the number of minors or women for whom a guardian has
been appointed under sections 524.5-301 to 524.5-317 because of
a finding of incompetency for whom the physician or an agent of
the physician provided the notice described in section 144.343,
subdivision 2; of that number, the number of notices provided
personally as described in section 144.343, subdivision 2,
paragraph (a), and the number of notices provided by mail as
described in section 144.343, subdivision 2, paragraph (b); and
of each of those numbers, the number who, to the best of the
reporting physician's or reporting facility's information and
belief, went on to obtain the abortion from the reporting
physician or reporting physician's facility, or from the
reporting facility;

(2) the number of minors or women for whom a guardian has
been appointed under sections 524.5-301 to 524.5-317 because of
a finding of incompetency upon whom the physician performed an
abortion without providing the notice described in section
144.343, subdivision 2; and of that number, the number who were
emancipated minors, and the number for whom section 144.343,
subdivision 4, was applicable, itemized by each of the
limitations identified in paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of that
subdivision;

(3) the number of abortions performed by the physician for
which judicial authorization was received and for which the
notification described in section 144.343, subdivision 2, was
not provided;

(4) the county the female resides in; the county where the
abortion was performed, if different from the female's
residence; and, if a judicial bypass was obtained, the county it
was obtained in, if different from the female's residence;

(5) the age of the female;

(6) the race of the female;

(7) the process the physician or the physician's agent used
to inform the female of the judicial bypass; whether court forms
were provided to her; and whether the physician or the
physician's agent made the court arrangement for the female; and

(8) how soon after visiting the abortion facility the
female went to court to obtain a judicial bypass.

Subd. 2.

Forms to physicians and facilities.

Physicians
and facilities required to report under subdivision 3 shall
obtain reporting forms from the commissioner.

Subd. 3.

Submission.

(a) The following physicians or
facilities must submit the forms to the commissioner no later
than April 1 for abortions performed in the previous calendar
year:

(1) a physician who provides, or whose agent provides, the
notice described in section 144.343, subdivision 2, or the
facility at which such notice is provided; and

(2) a physician who knowingly performs an abortion upon a
minor or a woman for whom a guardian has been appointed
according to sections 524.5-301 to 524.5-317 because of a
finding of incompetency, or a facility at which such an abortion
is performed.

(b) The commissioner shall maintain as confidential data
which alone or in combination may constitute information that
would reasonably lead, using epidemiologic principles, to the
identification of:

(1) an individual who has had an abortion, who has received
judicial authorization for an abortion, or to whom the notice
described in section 144.343, subdivision 2, has been provided;
or

(2) a physician or facility required to report under
paragraph (a).

Subd. 4.

Failure to report as required.

(a) Reports that
are not submitted more than 30 days following the due date shall
be subject to a late fee of $500 for each additional 30-day
period or portion of a 30-day period overdue. If a physician or
facility required to report under this section has not submitted
a report, or has submitted only an incomplete report, more than
one year following the due date, the commissioner of health
shall bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction for
an order directing the physician or facility to submit a
complete report within a period stated by court order or be
subject to sanctions. If the commissioner brings such an action
for an order directing a physician or facility to submit a
complete report, the court may assess reasonable attorney fees
and costs against the noncomplying party.

(b) Notwithstanding section 13.39, data related to actions
taken by the commissioner to enforce any provision of this
section is private data if the data, alone or in combination,
may constitute information that would reasonably lead, using
epidemiologic principles, to the identification of:

(1) an individual who has had an abortion, who has received
judicial authorization for an abortion, or to whom the notice
described in section 144.343, subdivision 2, has been provided;
or

(2) a physician or facility required to report under
subdivision 3.

Subd. 5.

Public records.

(a) By September 30 of each
year, the commissioner of health shall issue a public report
providing statistics for each item listed in subdivision 1 for
the previous calendar year compiled from reports submitted
according to this section. The report shall also include
statistics, which shall be obtained from court administrators,
that include:

(1) the total number of petitions or motions filed under
section 144.343, subdivision 6, paragraph (c), clause (i);

(2) the number of cases in which the court appointed a
guardian ad litem;

(3) the number of cases in which the court appointed
counsel;

(4) the number of cases in which the judge issued an order
authorizing an abortion without notification, including:

(i) the number of petitions or motions granted by the court
because of a finding of maturity and the basis for that finding;
and

(ii) the number of petitions or motions granted because of
a finding that the abortion would be in the best interest of the
minor and the basis for that finding;

(5) the number of denials from which an appeal was filed;

(6) the number of appeals that resulted in a denial being
affirmed; and

(7) the number of appeals that resulted in reversal of a
denial.

(b) The report shall provide the statistics for all
previous calendar years for which a public report was required
to be issued, adjusted to reflect any additional information
from late or corrected reports.

(c) The commissioner shall ensure that all statistical
information included in the public reports are presented so that
the data cannot reasonably lead, using epidemiologic principles,
to the identification of:

(1) an individual who has had an abortion, who has received
judicial authorization for an abortion, or to whom the notice
described in section 144.343, subdivision 2, has been provided;
or

(2) a physician or facility who has submitted a form to the
commissioner under subdivision 3.

Subd. 6.

Modification of requirements.

The commissioner
of health may, by administrative rule, alter the dates
established in subdivisions 3 and 5, consolidate the forms
created according to subdivision 1 with the reporting form
created according to section 145.4131, or consolidate reports to
achieve administrative convenience or fiscal savings, to allow
physicians and facilities to submit all information collected by
the commissioner regarding abortions at one time, or to reduce
the burden of the data collection, so long as the report
described in subdivision 5 is issued at least once a year.

Subd. 7.

Suit to compel statistical report.

If the
commissioner of health fails to issue the public report required
under subdivision 5, any group of ten or more citizens of the
state may seek an injunction in a court of competent
jurisdiction against the commissioner, requiring that a complete
report be issued within a period stated by court order. Failure
to abide by the injunction shall subject the commissioner to
sanctions for civil contempt.

Subd. 8.

Attorney fees.

If judgment is rendered in favor
of the plaintiff in any action described in this section, the
court shall also render judgment for a reasonable attorney fee
in favor of the plaintiff against the defendant. If the
judgment is rendered in favor of the defendant and the court
finds that plaintiff's suit was frivolous and brought in bad
faith, the court shall render judgment for a reasonable attorney
fee in favor of the defendant against the plaintiff.

Subd. 9.

Severability.

If any one or more provision,
section, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this
section or the application thereof to any person or circumstance
is found to be unconstitutional, the same is hereby declared to
be severable and the balance of this section shall remain
effective notwithstanding such unconstitutionality. The
legislature hereby declares that it would have passed this
section, and each provision, section, subdivision, sentence,
clause, phrase, or word thereof irrespective of the fact that
any one provision, section, subdivision, sentence, clause,
phrase, or word be declared unconstitutional.