BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 460| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: SB 460 Author: Pavley (D) Amended: 5/28/13 Vote: 21 SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 8-1, 5/1/13 AYES: Hernandez, Anderson, Beall, De León, DeSaulnier, Monning, Pavley, Wolk NOES: Nielsen SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 5/23/13 AYES: De León, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Padilla NO VOTE RECORDED: Lara, Steinberg SUBJECT : Prenatal testing program: education SOURCE : Breast Cancer Fund DIGEST : This bill requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) to include specified information regarding environmental health in the California Prenatal Screening Program Prenatal Patient Booklet (Booklet). ANALYSIS : Existing law: 1. Establishes a prenatal testing program and requires DPH to establish eligibility criteria for the program. CONTINUED SB 460 Page 2 2. Requires DPH to develop an education program designed to educate physicians and surgeons and the public concerning the uses of prenatal testing and the availability of the program. This bill: 1. Requires DPH to include information regarding environmental health in the Booklet including, but not be limited to, the following statement: We encounter chemicals and other substances in everyday life that may be harmful to a developing fetus. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to reduce your exposure to these substances at home, in the workplace, and in the environment. Most Californians are unaware that a number of everyday consumer products may pose potential harm. Prospective parents are encouraged to read more about this topic to learn about simple actions to ensure a healthy pregnancy. 2. Requires DPH to include in the Booklet links to Internet Web sites and to informational brochures relating to environmental health, including, but not limited to, the "All That Matters" brochures from the University of California, San Francisco Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment. 3. Requires DPH to send a notice to all distributors of the Booklet informing them of the change to the Booklet. Requires DPH, in the notice, to encourage obstetrician-gynecologists and midwives to discuss environmental health with their patients and to direct their patients to the appropriate page or pages in the Booklet to provide their patients with additional information. 4. Requires DPH, in order to minimize costs, to include the information described above when the Booklet is otherwise revised and reprinted. Comments The Booklet . In addition to requiring DPH to develop an educational program regarding prenatal testing, regulations require clinicians to provide information to certain pregnant CONTINUED SB 460 Page 3 women in their care on the use and availability of prenatal screening for birth defects, in a format provided or approved by DPH, and to obtain a signed consent form from those women consenting to participate. The Booklet that is the subject of this bill is part of the Prenatal Screening (PNS) Program within DPH's Genetic Disease Screening Program. According to the DPH, the purpose of the Booklet is to describe the PNS Program so that patients can knowledgeably consent to or decline screening. The Booklet discusses birth defects identified through the PNS Program: Down Syndrome, Trisomy 18, Trisomy 13, Neural Tube Defects, Abdominal Wall Defects and Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome. Pregnant women receive this Booklet at the time of prenatal screening; usually in weeks 10-18 of pregnancy. It is provided to prenatal care clinicians along with prenatal screening supplies, which are provided by DPH at the request of clinicians. DPH states that the Booklet was last printed in February 2013 and will be uploaded to its Web site by the end of May 2013. The DPH reprints Booklets approximately every one to two years. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, there will be minor costs to develop new materials and notify physicians. SUPPORT : (Verified 5/23/13) Breast Cancer Fund (source) American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, District IX (California) Clean Water Action California WIC Association California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative Junior Leagues of California March of Dimes California Chapter Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The Breast Cancer Fund writes that including information about the risks associated with certain chemicals and strategies to avoid them in the Booklet will provide women with helpful links to learn more information should they so choose. The California Healthy Nail Salon CONTINUED SB 460 Page 4 Collaborative states that pregnant women are exposed to hundreds, if not thousands, of chemicals, and some of these chemicals are known to cause cancer, birth defects, developmental delays and endocrine disruption, and that many are in nail salon products and common household products as well. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologist, District IX (California) writes that a startling amount of new scientific evidence shows the impact of environmental exposures on reproductive health including fetal and childhood development, and that exposures from toxicants can not only cause cancer and neurologic problems, but many are particularly damaging to reproductive health. Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California states that the Centers for Disease Control's nationwide testing program found 100 chemicals in monitored pregnant women, including chemicals known to be harmful to reproductive health. JL:k 5/28/13 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED