BILL NUMBER: AB 2399 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Nazarian
FEBRUARY 18, 2016
An act to amend Sections 123371 and 125092 of the Health and
Safety Code, relating to public health.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2399, as introduced, Nazarian. Pregnancy: umbilical cord blood:
blood testing.
Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to
develop standardized, objective information about umbilical cord
blood donation to enable a pregnant woman to make an informed
decision regarding what she wants to do with the umbilical cord
blood. Existing law requires that this information be made available
in Cantonese, English, Spanish, and Vietnamese. Existing law
prohibits public funds from being used by the department to provide
awareness, assistance, and information regarding umbilical cord blood
banking options and creates the Umbilical Cord Blood Education
Account within the State Treasury, which is funded by private
donations, to be used by the department for these purposes, as
specified.
Existing law also requires a licensed physician and surgeon, or
other person engaged in the prenatal care of a pregnant woman, to
obtain a blood specimen from the woman for purposes of determining
the presence of hepatitis B or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to
develop culturally sensitive informational material in English,
Spanish, and other languages, to inform a pregnant woman about the
purpose of obtaining this blood sample.
This bill would change the language requirements for the umbilical
cord blood informational material and the prenatal testing
informational material from those languages to languages that meet a
specified numeric threshold. The bill would also delete provisions
that create the Umbilical Cord Blood Education Account and remove the
prohibition against using public funds to provide information about
umbilical cord blood banking.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 123371 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
123371. (a) (1) The State Department of Public Health shall
develop standardized, objective information about umbilical cord
blood donation that is sufficient to allow a pregnant woman to make
an informed decision on whether to participate in a private or public
umbilical cord blood banking program. The information developed by
the department shall enable a pregnant woman to be informed of her
option to do any of the following:
(A) Discard umbilical cord blood.
(B) Donate umbilical cord blood to a public umbilical cord blood
bank.
(C) Store the umbilical cord blood in a family umbilical cord
blood bank for the use by immediate and extended family members.
(D) Donate umbilical cord blood to research.
(2) The information developed pursuant to paragraph (1) shall
include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(A) The current and potential future medical uses of stored
umbilical cord blood.
(B) The benefits and risks involved in umbilical cord blood
banking.
(C) The medical process involved in umbilical cord blood banking.
(D) Medical or family history criteria that can impact a family's
consideration of umbilical cord banking.
(E) An explanation of the differences between public and private
umbilical cord blood banking.
(F) The availability and costs of public or private umbilical cord
blood banks.
(G) Medical or family history criteria that can impact a family's
consideration of umbilical cord blood banking.
(H) An explanation that the practices and policies of blood banks
may vary with respect to accreditation, cord blood processing and
storage methods, costs, and donor privacy.
(I) An explanation that pregnant women are not required to donate
their umbilical cord blood for research purposes.
(b) The information provided by the department pursuant to
subdivision (a) shall be made available in Cantonese,
English, Spanish, and Vietnamese, the languages that
meet the numeric threshold described in Section 14029.91 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code, and shall be updated by the
department as needed.
(c) The information provided by the department pursuant to
subdivision (a) shall be made available on the Internet Web sites of
the licensing boards that have oversight over primary prenatal care
providers.
(d) (1) A primary prenatal care provider of a woman who is known
to be pregnant may, during the first prenatal visit, provide the
information required by subdivision (a) to the pregnant woman.
(2) For purposes of this article, a "prenatal care provider" means
a health care provider licensed pursuant to Division 2 (commencing
with Section 500) of the Business and Professions Code, or pursuant
to an initiative act referred to in that division, who provides
prenatal medical care within his or her scope of practice.
(e) The department shall only implement this article upon a
determination by the Director of Finance, that sufficient private
donations have been collected and deposited into the Umbilical Cord
Blood Education Account, which is hereby created in the State
Treasury. The moneys in the account shall be available, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of this article.
No public funds shall be used to implement this article. If
sufficient funds are collected and deposited into the account, the
Director of Finance shall file a written notice thereof with the
Secretary of State.
SEC. 2. Section 125092 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
125092. The department, in consultation with the Office of AIDS
and with other stakeholders, including, but not limited to,
representatives of professional medical and public health advocacy
groups, providers of health care to women and infants infected with
or exposed to HIV, and women living with HIV, shall develop
culturally sensitive informational material adequate to fulfill the
requirements of subdivisions (c) and (d) of Section 125090, in
English, Spanish, and other languages used by the department
the languages that meet the numeric threshold
described in Section 14029.91 of the Welfare and Institutions Code
when providing information to clients under the Medi-Cal
program. This material shall also include information on available
referral and consultation resources of experts in prenatal HIV
treatment. This material shall be completed by December 31,
2004.