BILL NUMBER: AB 2202 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 15, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 8, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 1, 2000
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Baldwin
FEBRUARY 24, 2000
An act to amend Section Sections 123440
and 123445 of, and to add Sections 123440.1 and 123446 to, the
Health and Safety Code, relating to body parts.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2202, as amended, Baldwin. Aborted fetal tissue and body
parts: sale or , purchase ,
donation, or use .
Existing law makes it unlawful for any person to use any aborted
product of human conception, other than fetal remains, for any type
of scientific or laboratory research or for any other kind of
experimentation or study, with certain exceptions, and provides that
a violation of this provision constitutes unprofessional conduct
within the meaning of the Medical Practice Act.
This bill would enact the Prevention of the Sale or
, Purchase , Donation, or Use of
Aborted Human Fetal Body Parts Act of 2000 to make it unlawful to buy
or , sell , donate, or use
an aborted human embryo or fetus, as defined, for any purposes,
except as provided under this bill. The bill would make a violation
of this prohibition punishable as felony mayhem. Because this bill
would create a new crime, it would impose a state-mandated local
program.
Existing law requires, with certain exceptions, that, at the
conclusion of any scientific or laboratory research or any other kind
of experimentation or study upon fetal remains, the fetal remains be
promptly interred or disposed of by incineration. A violation of
this provision is a misdemeanor.
The bill would recast this provision, to instead apply to any
medical research and other uses of any part of the body of a human
embryo or fetus that has died under specified circumstances.
Under the bill, a violation of this provision, as recast,
would not be a misdemeanor.
The bill would authorize the Attorney General to maintain
injunctive actions against future violations of these prohibitions or
for civil contempt. The bill would provide that a violation of
these provisions constitutes unprofessional conduct within the
meaning of the Medical Practice Act.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Prevention of the Sale or Purchase ,
Purchase, Donation, or Use of Aborted Human Fetal Body Parts
Act of 2000.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Medical research must not be reliant on aborted human embryo
or fetal tissue. This reliance invites the expansion of abortion for
purposes beyond the United States Supreme Court's original intent in
the case of Roe v. Wade ((1973) 410 U.S. 113; 35 L.Ed.2d 147).
Alternate sources of fetal tissue and stem cells for medical research
have been and are available, such as tissue from miscarriages,
stillbirths, and adult stem cells.
(b) It is within the purview of the Legislature to establish and
invoke the moral and ethical standards of scientific research.
Science is not the author of ethics; rather, the principles and
policy of a people establish ethics for science.
(c) An aborted fetal tissue market exists in California.
Government agencies, educational institutions, and private
enterprises are currently buying and using fetal body parts obtained
from abortions performed in California and elsewhere.
(d) Vulnerable pregnant women are being exploited by abortion
providers who urge them to donate their aborted fetuses for
humanitarian reasons.
(e) The practice of profiteering in fetal tissue sales encourages
the extension of pregnancies for the purpose of providing more fully
developed fetuses and fetal body parts, and extension of these
pregnancies increases the risk for women.
SEC. 3. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this
act to do both of the following:
(1) Prohibit the sale and purchase of the remains of aborted human
embryos and fetuses for any purpose other than those permitted in
this act.
(2) Provide for the disposition of aborted human embryos and
fetuses by means of cremation or decent burial.
(b) It is not the intent of the Legislature to approve or condone
abortions in general, which became and remain legal in California as
a result of the United States Supreme Court decisions in Roe v. Wade
((1973) 410 U.S. 113; 35 L.Ed.2d 147) and Doe v. Bolton ((1973) 410
U.S. 179; 35 L.Ed.2d 201).
SEC. 4. Section 123440 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:
123440. (a) It is unlawful for any person to use any aborted
product of human conception , other than fetal remains,
for any type of scientific or laboratory research or for
any other kind of experimentation or study, except to protect or
preserve the life and health of the fetus. "Fetal remains,"
as used in this section, means a lifeless product of conception
regardless of the duration of pregnancy. A fetus shall not be deemed
to be lifeless for the purposes of this section, unless there is an
absence of a discernible heartbeat.
(b) In addition to any other criminal or civil liability that may
be imposed by law, any violation of this section constitutes
unprofessional conduct within the meaning of the Medical Practice Act
, Chapter (Chapter 5 (commencing with
Section 2000) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions
Code Code) .
SEC. 5. Section 123440.1 is added to the Health and Safety
Code, to read:
123440.1. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b):
(1) It is unlawful for any person to buy or sell
, sell, donate, or use an aborted human embryo
or fetus for any purpose.
(2) It is unlawful for any public institution, public facility,
public equipment, or any physical assets owned, leased, or controlled
by this state or any agency or political subdivision thereof to buy
or sell , sell, donate, or use aborted
human embryos or fetuses.
(3) It is unlawful for any funds received or controlled by this
state or any agency or political subdivision thereof, including, but
not limited to, funds derived from federal, state, or local taxes,
gifts or grants from any source, public or private, to be expended
for the purpose of purchasing buying,
selling, donating, or using embryos or fetuses or any part
thereof.
(b) Subdivision (a) shall not apply to the donation for medical
research, experimentation, or study of the remains of an embryo or
fetus whose death is the result of miscarriage, stillbirth, sickness
or disease, accident, or crime committed on the fetus or the mother
by a third party. In these instances, the donation may be made only
by the mother of the fetus or, if she is incapacitated, by the father
of the fetus or by a legal guardian.
(c) For purposes of this section, "aborted human embryo or fetus"
means a human embryo or fetus or any part thereof, including tissue,
cells, or organs that are obtained from a living or dead embryo or
fetus during or after an induced abortion but does not include human
embryonic or fetal tissue, cells, or organs that are obtained from a
spontaneous abortion or stillbirth.
SEC. 5.
SEC. 6. Section 123445 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:
123445. (a) At the conclusion of any medical research or other
uses of any part of the body of a human embryo or fetus whose death
is the result of a miscarriage, stillbirth, sickness or disease,
accident, or crime committed on the fetus or the mother by a third
party, the prenatal body parts shall be disposed of by cremation or
decent burial.
(b) Storage of the fetal remains prior to the completion of the
research or other uses shall be in a facility not open to the public,
and the method of storage shall prevent any deterioration of the
fetal remains that could cause a health hazard.
(c) Any violation of this section is a misdemeanor.
SEC. 6.
SEC. 7. Section 123446 is added to the Health and Safety
Code, to read:
123446. (a) The Attorney General may maintain an action in a
court of appropriate jurisdiction against any person or entity who
has violated Section 123440.1 to obtain an injunction against future
violation of that section, or for civil contempt against any person
or entity who has intentionally violated an injunction issued in
accordance with this section. If judgment is rendered in favor of the
Attorney General, the court shall also render judgment for a
reasonable attorney's fee in favor of the Attorney General against
the defendant. If judgment is rendered in favor of the defendant and
the court finds that the Attorney General's suit was frivolous and
brought in bad faith, the court shall also render judgment for a
reasonable attorney's fee in favor of the defendant against the
Attorney General.
(b) Any person who engages in the sale or purchase
, purchase, donation, or use of an aborted human
embryo or fetus in violation of Section 123440.1 shall be guilty of
the felony of mayhem pursuant to Section 203 of the Penal Code, and
shall be punished by a fine of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000),
imprisonment in the state prison for two, four, or eight years, or
both the fine and imprisonment.
(c) In addition to any other criminal or civil liability that may
be imposed by law, any violation of Section 123440.1 constitutes
unprofessional conduct within the meaning of the Medical Practice
Act, Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 2000) of Division 2 of the
Business and Professions Code.
SEC. 7.
SEC. 8. If any provision, word, phrase, or clause of this
act or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held
invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the provisions, words,
phrases, clauses, or applications of the act which can be given
effect without the invalid provisions, words, phrases, clauses, or
application; and to this end, the provisions, words, phrases, and
clauses of this act are declared severable.
SEC. 8.
SEC. 9. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.