HF 2340

2nd Engrossment - 87th Legislature (2011 - 2012) Posted on 04/02/2012 12:50pm

A bill for an act
relating to health; requiring licensure of certain facilities that perform abortions;
setting a facility license fee; 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 [145.417] LICENSURE OF CERTAIN FACILITIES THAT PERFORM
ABORTIONS.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin License required for facilities that perform ten or more abortions
per month. new text end

new text begin (a) A clinic, health center, or other facility in which the pregnancies of ten
or more women known to be pregnant are willfully terminated or aborted each month,
including nonsurgical abortions, shall be licensed by the commissioner of health and,
notwithstanding Minnesota Rules, part 4675.0100, subparts 8 and 9, is subject to the
licensure requirements provided in Minnesota Rules, chapter 4675. The commissioner
shall not require a facility licensed as a hospital or outpatient surgical center, pursuant to
section 144.55, to obtain a separate license under this section; however such facility may
be subject to inspections and investigations as permitted under subdivision 2.
new text end

new text begin (b) Establishing or operating a facility described in this section without obtaining a
license is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $300. The commissioner
of health, attorney general, an appropriate county attorney, or a woman upon whom an
abortion has been performed or attempted to be performed, at an unlicensed facility
may seek an injunction in district court against the continuing operation of the facility.
Proceedings for securing an injunction may be brought by the attorney general or by
the appropriate county attorney.
new text end

new text begin (c) Sanctions provided in this subdivision do not restrict other available sanctions.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Inspections; no notice required. new text end

new text begin No more than two times per year,
the commissioner of health shall perform routine and comprehensive inspections and
investigations of facilities described under subdivision 1. Every clinic, health center,
or other facility described under subdivision 1, and any other premise proposed to be
conducted as a facility by an applicant for a license, shall be open at all reasonable times
to inspection authorized in writing by the commissioner of health. No notice need be
given to any person prior to any inspection.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Licensure fee. new text end

new text begin (a) The license fee for a facility is $.......
new text end

new text begin (b) Fees shall be collected and deposited according to section 144.122.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Suspension, revocation and refusal to renew. new text end

new text begin The commissioner of
health may refuse to grant or renew, or may suspend or revoke, a license on any of the
following grounds:
new text end

new text begin (1) violation of any of the provisions of this section or Minnesota Rules, chapter
4675;
new text end

new text begin (2) permitting, aiding, or abetting the commission of any illegal act in the facility;
new text end

new text begin (3) conduct or practices detrimental to the welfare of the patient; or
new text end

new text begin (4) obtaining or attempting to obtain a license by fraud or misrepresentation; or
new text end

new text begin (5) with respect to the facility, if the commissioner of health determines that there is
a pattern of conduct that one or more physicians who have a financial or economic interest
in the facility, as defined in section 144.6521, subdivision 3, and have not provided notice
and disclosure of the financial or economic interest as required by section 144.6521.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Hearing. new text end

new text begin Prior to any suspension, revocation or refusal to renew a license,
the licensee shall be entitled to notice and a hearing as provided by sections 14.57 to 14.69.
At each hearing, the commissioner of health shall have the burden of establishing that a
violation described in subdivision 4 has occurred. If a license is revoked, suspended, or
not renewed, a new application for license may be considered by the commissioner if the
conditions upon which revocation, suspension, or refusal to renew was based have been
corrected and evidence of this fact has been satisfactorily furnished. A new license may
then be granted after proper inspection has been made and all provisions of this section
and Minnesota Rules, chapter 4675, have been complied with and recommendation has
been made by the inspector as an agent of the commissioner of health.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Severability. new text end

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