HF 144 (LSB 1121YH (4) 87)

HOUSE FILE 144

BY  SALMON, WHEELER, HAGER, SHEETS, KOESTER, WATTS, GASSMAN, FISHER, HOLT, LUNDGREN, GUSTAFSON, HEARTSILL, and BAXTER

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the buying or selling of or the experimentation on a fetus or bodily remains resulting from an abortion, providing penalties, and including effective dates.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  146B.1  Fetuses and bodily remains of abortions —— buying, selling, or experimentation prohibited —— criminal and civil penalties.
   1.  A person shall not experiment upon a fetus intended to be aborted unless the experimentation is therapeutic to the fetus.
   2.  A person shall not perform or offer to perform an abortion if the justification or reason for the abortion is that the bodily remains may be used for animal or human research, experimentation, or transplantation.
   3.  A person shall not knowingly sell, transfer, distribute, give away, accept, use, or attempt to use a fetus or the bodily remains resulting from an abortion.
   4.  A person shall not use a fetus or the bodily remains resulting from an abortion in animal or human research, experimentation, or study, or for transplantation, except under any of the following circumstances:
   a.  For diagnostic or remedial tests, procedures, or observations which have the purpose of determining the life or health of the fetus, or preserving the life or health of the fetus or pregnant woman.
   b.  For pathological study.
   5.  In addition to other remedies available, failure to comply with the requirements of this section shall provide a basis for recovery for the pregnant woman, or the parent or guardian of the pregnant woman if the pregnant woman is a minor, for the unlawful disposition of or experimentation upon a fetus or bodily remains. Such relief may include all of the following:
   a.  Monetary damages for all psychological injuries occasioned by such violation.
   b.  Statutory damages equal to three times the cost of the pregnant woman’s delivery or abortion.
   c.  A basis for professional disciplinary action under chapter 148.
   d.  Upon conviction of a violation of this section, the automatic suspension of the license of the physician for at least one year.
   6.  A person who violates this section is guilty of a class “C” felony for each violation.
   7.  For purposes of this section:
   a.  “Abortion” means abortion as defined in section 146.1.
   b.  “Bodily remains” means the physical remains, corpse, or body parts of a dead fetus that has reached the stage of development in which there are cartilaginous structures or fetal or skeletal parts, which remains were extracted or expelled following a fetal death. “Bodily remains” does not include medical waste.
   c.  “Experiment” or “experimentation” means the use of bodily remains in any trial, test, procedure, or observation carried out with the goal of verifying, refuting, or establishing the validity of a hypothesis, but does not include diagnostic or remedial tests, procedures, or observations which have the purpose of determining the life or health of the fetus, preserving the life or health of the fetus or the pregnant woman, or pathological study.
   d.  “Fetal death” means fetal death as defined in section 144.1.
   e.  “Medical waste” means discarded biologic product such as blood, tissue, or body parts removed from medical facilities as well as bedding, bandages, syringes, and similar materials that have been used in treating patients, but does not include bodily remains.
   f.  “Pathological study” means the examination of body tissue for diagnostic or forensic purposes.
   g.  “Therapeutic” means intended to treat or cure a disease or disorder by remedial agents or methods.
    Sec. 2.  STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.
   1.  Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect existing federal or state law regarding abortion.
   2.  Nothing in this Act shall be construed as creating or recognizing a right to abortion.
   3.  Nothing in this Act shall be construed to alter generally accepted medical standards.
    Sec. 3.  SEVERABILITY.  If any provision of this Act or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the Act which can be given effect without the invalid provisions or application and, to this end, the provisions of this Act are severable.
    Sec. 4.  RIGHT OF INTERVENTION.  The general assembly, by joint resolution, may appoint one or more of its members who sponsored or cosponsored this Act in the member’s official capacity to intervene as a matter of right in any case in which the constitutionality of this Act is challenged.
    Sec. 5.  EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT.  This Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill prohibits the buying or selling of and the experimentation on a fetus or the bodily remains resulting from an abortion.
   The bill prohibits a person from experimenting upon a fetus intended to be aborted unless the experimentation is therapeutic to the fetus; performing or offering to perform an abortion if the justification or reason for the abortion is that the bodily remains may be used for animal or human research, experimentation, or transplantation; or knowingly selling, transferring, distributing, giving away, accepting, using, or attempting to use a fetus or the bodily remains resulting from an abortion.
   Additionally, under the bill, a person is prohibited from using a fetus or the bodily remains resulting from an abortion in animal or human research, experimentation, or study, or for transplantation, unless an exception is met. The exceptions include for diagnostic or remedial tests, procedures, or observations which have the purpose of determining the life or health of the fetus, or preserving the life or health of the fetus or pregnant woman; or for pathological study. 
   The bill provides, in addition to other remedies available, civil relief in the form of monetary and statutory damages, professional disciplinary action against a physician, and criminal penalties for the unlawful disposition of or experimentation upon a fetus or bodily remains. The bill provides that a person who violates the bill’s provision is guilty of a class “C” felony for each violation. A class “C” felony is punishable by confinement for no more than 10 years and a fine of at least $1,000 but not more than $10,000.
   The bill defines the terms “abortion”, “bodily remains”, “experiment” or “experimentation”, “fetal death”, “medical waste”, “pathological study”, and “therapeutic” for the purposes of the bill.
   The bill provides that nothing in the bill shall be construed to affect existing federal or state law regarding abortion, as creating or recognizing a right to an abortion, or to alter generally accepted medical standards.
   The provisions of the bill are severable and the bill also provides for the right of intervention by members of the general assembly who sponsored or cosponsored the bill in their official capacity, appointed by joint resolution, to intervene as a matter of right in any case in which the constitutionality of the bill is challenged.
   The bill takes effect upon enactment.