House File 138 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 138 BY SHAW , HEARTSILL , ALONS , SCHULTZ , BACON , SHEETS , KOESTER , FRY , and SALMON A BILL FOR An Act relating to the definition of person in the context of 1 the victim of the crime of murder, and providing penalties. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 1246YH (5) 85 pf/nh
H.F. 138 Section 1. Section 135.1, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 1 2013, is amended to read as follows: 2 For the purposes of chapter 155 and Title IV, subtitle 2 , 3 excluding chapter 146 , unless otherwise defined: 4 Sec. 2. Section 135.11, subsections 10 and 12, Code 2013, 5 are amended to read as follows: 6 10. Enforce the law relative to chapter 146 and 7 “Health-related Professions”, Title IV, subtitle 3 , excluding 8 chapter 155 . 9 12. Establish, publish, and enforce rules not inconsistent 10 with law for the enforcement of the provisions of chapters 125 11 and 155 , and Title IV, subtitle 2 , excluding chapter 146 and 12 for the enforcement of the various laws, the administration and 13 supervision of which are imposed upon the department. 14 Sec. 3. Section 144.29A, subsections 1 and 2, Code 2013, are 15 amended to read as follows: 16 1. A health care provider who initially identifies and 17 diagnoses a spontaneous termination of pregnancy or who induces 18 a termination of pregnancy shall file with the department 19 a report for each termination within thirty days of the 20 occurrence. The health care provider shall make a good faith 21 effort to obtain all of the following information that is 22 available with respect to each termination: 23 a. The confidential health care provider code as assigned 24 by the department. 25 b. The report tracking number. 26 c. The maternal health services region of the Iowa 27 department of public health, as designated as of July 1, 1997, 28 in which the patient resides. 29 d. The race of the patient. 30 e. The age of the patient. 31 f. The marital status of the patient. 32 g. The educational level of the patient. 33 h. The number of previous pregnancies, live births, and 34 spontaneous or induced terminations of pregnancies. 35 -1- LSB 1246YH (5) 85 pf/nh 1/ 7
H.F. 138 i. The month and year in which the termination occurred. 1 j. The number of weeks since the patient’s last menstrual 2 period and a clinical estimate of gestation. 3 k. The method used for an induced termination, including 4 whether mifepristone was used. 5 2. It is the intent of the general assembly that the 6 information shall be collected, reproduced, released, and 7 disclosed in a manner specified by rule of the department, 8 adopted pursuant to chapter 17A , which ensures the anonymity 9 of the patient who experiences a termination of pregnancy, 10 the health care provider who identifies and diagnoses or 11 induces a termination of pregnancy, and the hospital, clinic, 12 or other health facility in which a termination of pregnancy 13 is identified and diagnosed or induced . The department may 14 share information with federal public health officials for 15 the purposes of securing federal funding or conducting public 16 health research. However, in sharing the information, the 17 department shall not relinquish control of the information, 18 and any agreement entered into by the department with federal 19 public health officials to share information shall prohibit the 20 use, reproduction, release, or disclosure of the information 21 by federal public health officials in a manner which violates 22 this section . The department shall publish, annually, a 23 demographic summary of the information obtained pursuant to 24 this section , except that the department shall not reproduce, 25 release, or disclose any information obtained pursuant to this 26 section which reveals the identity of any patient, health care 27 provider, hospital, clinic, or other health facility, and shall 28 ensure anonymity in the following ways: 29 a. The department may use information concerning the report 30 tracking number or concerning the identity of a reporting 31 health care provider, hospital, clinic, or other health 32 facility only for purposes of information collection. The 33 department shall not reproduce, release, or disclose this 34 information for any purpose other than for use in annually 35 -2- LSB 1246YH (5) 85 pf/nh 2/ 7
H.F. 138 publishing the demographic summary under this section . 1 b. The department shall enter the information, from 2 any report of termination submitted, within thirty days of 3 receipt of the report, and shall immediately destroy the 4 report following entry of the information. However, entry of 5 the information from a report shall not include any health 6 care provider, hospital, clinic, or other health facility 7 identification information including, but not limited to, the 8 confidential health care provider code, as assigned by the 9 department. 10 c. To protect confidentiality, the department shall limit 11 release of information to release in an aggregate form which 12 prevents identification of any individual patient, health care 13 provider, hospital, clinic, or other health facility. For the 14 purposes of this paragraph, “aggregate form” means a compilation 15 of the information received by the department on termination 16 of pregnancies for each information item listed, with the 17 exceptions of the report tracking number, the health care 18 provider code, and any set of information for which the amount 19 is so small that the confidentiality of any person to whom the 20 information relates may be compromised. The department shall 21 establish a methodology to provide a statistically verifiable 22 basis for any determination of the correct amount at which 23 information may be released so that the confidentiality of any 24 person is not compromised. 25 Sec. 4. Section 144.29A, subsection 8, Code 2013, is amended 26 by striking the subsection. 27 Sec. 5. Section 216.6, subsection 2, paragraph c, Code 2013, 28 is amended by striking the paragraph. 29 Sec. 6. Section 216.13, Code 2013, is amended to read as 30 follows: 31 216.13 Exceptions for retirement plans, abortion coverage, 32 life, disability, and health benefits. 33 The provisions of this chapter relating to discrimination 34 because of age do not apply to a retirement plan or benefit 35 -3- LSB 1246YH (5) 85 pf/nh 3/ 7
H.F. 138 system of an employer unless the plan or system is a mere 1 subterfuge adopted for the purpose of evading this chapter . 2 1. However, a retirement plan or benefit system shall not 3 require the involuntary retirement of a person under the age of 4 seventy because of that person’s age. This paragraph does not 5 prohibit the following: 6 a. The involuntary retirement of a person who has attained 7 the age of sixty-five and has for the two prior years been 8 employed in a bona fide executive or high policymaking position 9 and who is entitled to an immediate, nonforfeitable annual 10 retirement benefit from a pension, profit-sharing, savings, 11 or deferred compensation plan of the employer which equals 12 twenty-seven thousand dollars. This retirement benefit test 13 may be adjusted according to the regulations prescribed by 14 the United States secretary of labor pursuant to Pub. L. No. 15 95-256, section 3. 16 b. The involuntary retirement of a person covered by a 17 collective bargaining agreement which was entered into by a 18 labor organization and was in effect on September 1, 1977. 19 This exemption does not apply after the termination of that 20 agreement or January 1, 1980, whichever first occurs. 21 2. A health insurance program provided by an employer may 22 exclude coverage of abortion, except where the life of the 23 mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term or 24 where medical complications have arisen from an abortion. 25 3. 2. An employee welfare plan may provide life, disability 26 or health insurance benefits which vary by age based on 27 actuarial differences if the employer contributes equally for 28 all the participating employees or may provide for employer 29 contributions differing by age if the benefits for all the 30 participating employees do not vary by age. 31 Sec. 7. Section 602.8102, subsection 31, Code 2013, is 32 amended by striking the subsection. 33 Sec. 8. Section 707.1, Code 2013, is amended to read as 34 follows: 35 -4- LSB 1246YH (5) 85 pf/nh 4/ 7
H.F. 138 707.1 Murder defined. 1 1. A person who kills another person with malice 2 aforethought either express or implied commits murder. 3 2. “Person” , when referring to the victim of a murder, 4 means an individual human being, without regard to age of 5 development, from the moment of conception, when a zygote is 6 formed, until natural death. 7 3. Murder includes killing another person through any 8 means that terminates the life of the other person including 9 but not limited to the use of abortion-inducing drugs. For 10 the purposes of this section, “abortion-inducing drug” means a 11 medicine, drug, or any other substance prescribed or dispensed 12 with the intent of terminating the clinically diagnosable 13 pregnancy of a woman, with knowledge that the drug will 14 with reasonable likelihood cause the termination of the 15 pregnancy. “Abortion-inducing drug” includes the off-label 16 use of drugs known to have abortion-inducing properties, 17 which are prescribed specifically with the intent of causing 18 an abortion, but does not include drugs that may be known to 19 cause an abortion, but which are prescribed for other medical 20 indications. 21 4. Murder does not include a fetal death as defined in 22 section 144.1 or the spontaneous termination of pregnancy as 23 defined in section 144.29A. 24 Sec. 9. REPEAL. Sections 232.5, 702.20, 707.7, 707.8, 25 707.8A, 707.9, and 707.10, Code 2013, are repealed. 26 Sec. 10. REPEAL. Chapters 135L and 146, Code 2013, are 27 repealed. 28 Sec. 11. SEVERABILITY. If any provision of this Act or 29 the application of this Act to any person or circumstances is 30 held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions 31 or applications of the Act which can be given effect without 32 the invalid provisions or application and, to this end, the 33 provisions of this Act are severable. 34 Sec. 12. EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT. This Act, being deemed 35 -5- LSB 1246YH (5) 85 pf/nh 5/ 7
H.F. 138 of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment. 1 EXPLANATION 2 This bill defines “person” in the context of the victim of 3 the crime of murder to be an individual human being without 4 regard to age of development, from the moment of conception, 5 when the zygote is formed, until natural death. 6 The bill provides that murder includes killing another 7 person through any means that terminates the life of 8 the other person including but not limited to the use of 9 abortion-inducing drugs, and defines “abortion-inducing drug”. 10 The bill also provides that murder does not include a fetal 11 death as defined in Code section 144.1 or the spontaneous 12 termination of pregnancy as defined in Code section 144.29A. 13 The bill makes conforming changes throughout the Code to 14 eliminate any reference to allowing abortions or terminations 15 of pregnancy in keeping with the definition of “murder” under 16 the bill. 17 The bill amends the termination of pregnancy reporting 18 section (Code section 144.29A) to only include the reporting of 19 spontaneous terminations of pregnancy. 20 The bill amends a Code section relating to unfair employment 21 practices (Code section 216.6) to eliminate references to 22 disabilities caused or contributed to by legal abortion. 23 The bill amends a Code section relating to discrimination 24 relating to health insurance abortion coverage (Code section 25 216.13) to eliminate the reference to abortion coverage. 26 The bill strikes and repeals Code provisions that relate 27 to allowing abortions under certain circumstances. The bill 28 repeals Code section 232.5 (abortion performed on a minor —— 29 waiver of notification proceedings), Code section 702.20 (the 30 definition of “viability”), Code section 707.7 (feticide), 31 Code section 707.8 (nonconsensual termination —— serious 32 injury to a human pregnancy), Code section 707.8A (partial 33 birth abortion), Code section 707.9 (murder of a fetus aborted 34 alive), Code section 707.10 (duty to preserve the life of the 35 -6- LSB 1246YH (5) 85 pf/nh 6/ 7
H.F. 138 fetus), Code chapter 135L (notification requirements regarding 1 pregnant minors), and Code chapter 146 (abortions —— refusal 2 to perform). The bill also makes conforming changes to strike 3 references to Code provisions stricken or repealed in the bill. 4 The bill provides for severability of any provision 5 or application of the bill that is held invalid from the 6 provisions or applications of the bill which can be given 7 effect without the invalid provisions or application. The bill 8 takes effect upon enactment. 9 -7- LSB 1246YH (5) 85 pf/nh 7/ 7