Amended in Assembly May 4, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 16, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 8, 2015

Amended in Assembly March 26, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 775

Introduced by Assembly Members Chiu and Burke

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Atkins, Rendon, and Wood)

February 25, 2015

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

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 775, as amended, Chiu. Reproductive FACT Act.

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.

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 California has public programs that provide immediate free or low-cost access to comprehensive family planning services, prenatal care, and abortion, for eligible women. 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.

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. begin delete 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 delete

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

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

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares that:

(a) All California women, 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 women. Some of these programs have been recently
established or expanded as a result of the federal Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act.

(b) Millions of California women are in need of publicly funded
family planning services, contraception services and education,
abortion services, and prenatal care and delivery. In 2012, more
than 2.6 million California women were in need of publicly funded
family planning services. More than 700,000 California women
become pregnant every year and one-half of these pregnancies are
unintended. In 2010, 64.3 percent of unplanned births in California
were publicly funded. Yet, at the moment they learn that they are
pregnant, thousands of women remain unaware of the public
programs available to provide them with contraception, health
education and counseling, family planning, prenatal care, abortion,
or delivery.

(c) Because pregnancy decisions are time sensitive, and care
early in pregnancy is important, California must supplement its
own efforts to advise women of its reproductive health programs.
In California, low-income women can receive immediate access
to free or low-cost comprehensive family planning services and
pregnancy-related care through the Medi-Cal and the Family PACT
programs. However, only Medi-Cal providers who are enrolled in
the Family PACT program are authorized to enroll patients
immediately at their health centers.

(d) The most effective way to ensure that women quickly obtain
the information and services they need to make and implement
timely reproductive decisions is to require licensed health care
facilities that are unable to immediately enroll patients into the
Family PACT or Presumptive Eligibility for Pregnant Women
Medi-Cal programs to advise each patient at the time of her visit
of the various publicly funded family planning and
pregnancy-related resources available in California, and the manner
in which to directly and efficiently access those resources.

(e) It is also vital that pregnant women in California know when
they are getting medical care from licensed professionals.
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.

SEC. 2.  

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.

SEC. 3.  

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

 

Article 2.7.  Reproductive FACT Act

 

123470.  

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

123471.  

(a) For purposes of this article, and except as provided
in subdivision (c), “licensed covered facility” means a facility
licensed under Section 1204 or an intermittent clinic operating
under a primary care clinic pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section
1206, whose primary purpose is providing family planning or
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 provides, or offers counseling about,
contraception or contraceptive methods.

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

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

begin insert

(5) The facility offers abortion services.

end insert begin delete

(5)

end delete

begin insert (6) end insert  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) This article shall not apply to either of the following:

(1) A clinic directly conducted, maintained, or operated by the
United States or any of its departments, officers, or agencies.

(2) A licensed primary care clinic that is enrolled as a Medi-Cal
provider and a provider in the Family Planning, Access, Care, and
Treatment Program.

123472.  

(a) A licensed covered facility shall disseminate to
clients on site the following notice in English and in the primary
threshold languages for Medi-Cal beneficiaries as determined by
the State Department of Health Care Services for the county in
which the facility is located.

(1) The notice shall state:

“California has public programs that provide immediate free or
low-cost access to comprehensive family planning services
(including all FDA-approved methods of contraception), prenatal
care, and abortion for eligible women. To determine whether you
qualify, contact the county social services office at [insert the
telephone number].”

(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 to clients
on site and in any print and digital advertising materials including
Internet Web sites, the following notice in English and in the
primary threshold languages for Medi-Cal beneficiaries as
determined by the State Department of Health Care Services for
the county in which the facility is located.

(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 onsite 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 begin delete the same point
type as other information in the advertisement. end delete begin insert clear and
conspicuous. “Clear and conspicuous” means in larger point type
than the surrounding text, or in contrasting type, font, or color to
the surrounding text of the same size, or set off from the
surrounding text of the same size by symbols or other marks that
call attention to the language. end insert

123473.  

(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 delete

123474.  

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 delete

SEC. 4.  

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.