Amended in Assembly March 26, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 775

Introduced by Assembly Member Chiu

February 25, 2015

An act to begin delete amend Section 123375 end delete begin insert add Article 2.7 (commencing with Section 123470) to Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 106 end insert of the Health and Safety Code, relating to public health.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 775, as amended, Chiu. begin delete Public health: maternal health. end delete begin insert Reproductive FACT Act. end insert

begin insert

Existing law, the Reproductive Privacy Act, provides that every individual possesses a fundamental right of privacy with respect to reproductive decisions. Existing law provides that the state shall not deny or interfere with a woman’s right to choose or obtain an abortion prior to viability of the fetus, as defined, or when necessary to protect her life or health. Existing law specifies the circumstances under which the performance of an abortion is deemed unauthorized.

end insert begin insert

This bill would enact the Reproductive FACT (Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care, and Transparency) Act, which would require a licensed covered facility, as defined, to disseminate a notice to all clients, as specified, stating, among other things, that every pregnant woman has the right to decide whether to have a child or to obtain abortion care. The bill would also require an unlicensed covered facility, as defined, to disseminate a notice to all clients, as specified, stating, among other things, that the facility is not licensed as a medical facility by the State of California.

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The bill would authorize the Attorney General, city attorney, or county counsel to bring an action to impose a specified civil penalty against covered facilities that fail to comply with these requirements. The bill would also require the Attorney General to post on the Department of Justice’s Internet Web site a list of the covered facilities upon which a civil penalty has been imposed.

end insert begin delete

Existing law, with exceptions, prohibits a person from selling, offering for sale, giving away, distributing, or otherwise furnishing materials intended to determine the presence of pregnancy, unless that person has obtained a certificate of acceptability from the State Department of Public Health declaring that the materials have been approved as to efficacy and safety by the department.

end delete begin delete

This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that provision.

end delete

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert The Legislature finds and declares that: end insert

begin insert

(a) Individuals possess a fundamental right of privacy with
respect to personal reproductive decisions under the California
Constitution and the Reproductive Privacy Act.

end insert begin insert

(b) All California residents, regardless of income, should have
access to reproductive health services. The state provides insurance
coverage of reproductive health care and counseling to eligible,
low-income residents. Some of these programs have been recently
established or expanded as a result of the federal Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act.

end insert begin insert

(c) More than 700,000 California women become pregnant
every year. Approximately half of these pregnancies are
unintended. Thousands of women do not know the legal options
they have or funding resources available to them for prenatal care,
abortion, or delivery when they learn they are pregnant.

end insert begin insert

(d) Because California’s Medi-Cal program finances over 50
percent of in-state hospital births, California has a vested interest
in ensuring that women are knowledgeable about their options
and access to prenatal care as early as possible. Women who
receive prenatal care later in pregnancy are at higher risk for
having a preterm or low-birth weight infant and having an infant
requiring care in an intensive care unit. Infants born at low-birth
weight are at increased risk for life-long and disabling health
conditions. Their hospital costs are also substantially higher than
for normal birth weight infants. Infants who are born premature
are at increased risk for death and life-long disabling conditions,
including hearing and vision loss, respiratory problems, mental
retardation, and cerebral palsy.

end insert begin insert

(e) California’s public policy supporting reproductive health
is undermined if residents do not know their rights and the
programs available to exercise their reproductive options. Because
pregnancy decisions are time sensitive, and care early in pregnancy
is important, California must supplement its own efforts to advise
residents of its reproductive health programs with information at
the community clinics where the majority of residents who are
eligible for these public programs obtain pregnancy testing and
information.

end insert begin insert

(f) The most effective way to ensure that residents make and
implement timely reproductive decisions is for licensed health care
facilities primarily engaged in pregnancy care to advise every
client on site of legal reproductive options and resources available
in California. Unlicensed facilities that advertise and provide
pregnancy testing and care must advise clients, at the time they
are seeking or obtaining care, that these facilities are not licensed
to provide medical care.

end insert

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert

begin insert The purpose of this act is to ensure that California
residents make their personal reproductive health care decisions
knowing their rights and the health care services available to them. end insert

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Article 2.7 (commencing with Section 123470) is added
to Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 106 of the end insert begin insert Health and Safety
Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

 

Article begin insert 2.7. end insert   Reproductive FACT Act

 

begin insert 123470. end insert   

This article shall be known and may be cited as the
Reproductive FACT (Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive
Care, and Transparency) Act or Reproductive FACT Act.

begin insert 123471. end insert   

(a) For purposes of this article , subject to subdivision
(c), “licensed covered facility” means a facility licensed under
Section 1204 or a satellite clinic operating under a primary care
clinic pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1206, whose primary
purpose is providing pregnancy-related services, and that satisfies
two or more of the following:

(1) The facility offers obstetric ultrasounds, obstetric sonograms,
or prenatal care to pregnant women.

(2) The facility offers pregnancy testing or pregnancy diagnosis.

(3) The facility advertises or solicits patrons with offers to
provide prenatal sonography, pregnancy tests, or pregnancy
options counseling.

(4) The facility has staff or volunteers who collect health
information from clients.

(b) For purposes of this article, subject to subdivision (c),
“unlicensed covered facility” is a facility that is not licensed by
the State of California and does not have a licensed medical
provider on staff or under contract who provides or directly
supervises the provision of all of the services, whose primary
purpose is providing pregnancy-related services, and that satisfies
two or more of the following:

(1) The facility offers obstetric ultrasounds, obstetric sonograms,
or prenatal care to pregnant women.

(2) The facility offers pregnancy testing or pregnancy diagnosis.

(3) The facility advertises or solicits patrons with offers to
provide prenatal sonography, pregnancy tests, or pregnancy
options counseling.

(4) The facility has staff or volunteers who collect health
information from clients.

(c) A clinic directly conducted, maintained, or operated by the
United States or any of its departments, officers, or agencies is
not a covered facility.

begin insert 123472. end insert   

(a) A licensed covered facility shall disseminate the
following notice in English and in minority languages required
pursuant to Section 203 of the federal Voting Rights Act (52 U.S.C.
10101 et seq.) to clients on site.

(1) The notice shall state:

“You have the right to decide whether to have a child. In
California, every pregnant woman has the right to decide whether
to have a child or to obtain abortion care. Every resident also has
a right to use a birth control method. California has public
programs that provide free or low-cost prenatal care, abortion,
and contraception for eligible women. To see whether you qualify,
call the telephone number of the county social services office for
the county in which the facility is located.”

(2) The information shall be disclosed in one of the following
ways:

(A) A public notice posted in a conspicuous place where
individuals wait that may be easily read by those seeking services
from the facility. The notice shall be at least 8.5 inches by 11 inches
and written in no less than 22-point type.

(B) A printed notice distributed to all clients in no less than
14-point type.

(C) A digital notice distributed to all clients that can be read
at the time of check-in or arrival, in the same point type as other
digital disclosures. A printed notice as described in subparagraph
(B) shall be available for all clients who cannot or do not wish to
receive the information in a digital format.

(3) The notice may be combined with other mandated
disclosures.

(b) An unlicensed covered facility shall disseminate the following
notice in English and in minority languages required pursuant to
Section 203 of the federal Voting Rights Act (52 U.S.C. 10101 et
seq.) to clients on site and in any print and digital advertising
materials, including Internet Web sites.

(1) The notice shall state: “This facility is not licensed as a
medical facility by the State of California and has no licensed
medical provider who provides or directly supervises the provision
of services.”

(2) The on site notice shall be a sign at least 8.5 inches by 11
inches and written in no less than 48-point type, and shall be posted
conspicuously in the entrance of the facility and at least one
additional area where clients wait to receive services.

(3) The notice in the advertising material shall be the same
point type as other information in the advertisement.

begin insert 123473. end insert   

(a) Covered facilities that fail to comply with the
requirements of this article are liable for a civil penalty of five
hundred dollars ($500) for a first offense and one thousand dollars
($1,000) for each subsequent offense. The Attorney General, city
attorney, or county counsel may bring an action to impose a civil
penalty pursuant to this section after doing both of the following:

(1) Providing the covered facility with reasonable notice of
noncompliance, which informs the facility that it is subject to a
civil penalty if it does not correct the violation within 30 days from
the date the notice is sent to the facility.

(2) Verifying that the violation was not corrected within the
30-day period described in paragraph (1).

(b) The civil penalty shall be deposited into the General Fund
if the action is brought by the Attorney General. If the action is
brought by a city attorney, the civil penalty shall be paid to the
treasurer of the city in which the judgment is entered. If the action
is brought by a county counsel, the civil penalty shall be paid to
the treasurer of the county in which the judgment is entered.

begin insert 123474. end insert   

The Attorney General shall post and maintain on the
Department of Justice’s Internet Web site a list of the covered
facilities upon which a penalty has been imposed for
noncompliance with the requirements of this article.

end insert

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 4. end insert   

end insert begin insert

The provisions of this act are severable. If any
provision of this act or its application is held invalid, that invalidity
shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given
effect without the invalid provision or application.

end insert

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

Section 123375 of the Health and Safety Code
is amended to read:

123375.  

(a)  Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b),
a person shall not sell, offer for sale, give away, distribute, or
otherwise furnish materials intended to determine the presence of
pregnancy, unless that person has obtained a certificate of
acceptability from the department declaring that the materials have
been approved as to efficacy and safety by the department.

(b)  Subdivision (a) shall not apply to materials intended to
determine the presence of pregnancy, that are sold, offered for
sale, given away, distributed, or otherwise furnished to a physician
and surgeon licensed to practice in this state, a pharmacist licensed
to practice in this state, a licensed primary care clinic, a licensed
health facility, or a public health agency.

(c)  Any person other than a person described in subdivision
(b) who intends to sell, offer for sale, give away, distribute or
otherwise furnish materials intended to determine the presence of
pregnancy shall first make application to the state department for
certification of the materials. The department shall also require
that an application for certification shall be accompanied by
samples of any materials that are the subject of the application as
the department may reasonably require.

(d) Any violation of this section is a misdemeanor.

end delete