BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 460|
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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
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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
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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 5/29/13)
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
The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy California Collaboration
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
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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 5/29/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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