Senate File 88 - Introduced SENATE FILE 88 BY SALMON A BILL FOR An Act relating to the presence of an illegal drug in a 1 newborn’s body, and providing penalties. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 1285XS (4) 90 as/rh

S.F. 88 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 135.131A Newborn umbilical cord 1 drug testing. 2 1. For the purposes of this section, unless the context 3 otherwise requires: 4 a. “Birth center” means birth center as defined in section 5 135.61. 6 b. “Birthing hospital” means a private or public hospital 7 licensed pursuant to chapter 135B that has a licensed obstetric 8 unit or is licensed to provide obstetric services. 9 2. All newborns born in a birth center or birthing hospital 10 in this state shall be tested for the presence of an illegal 11 drug in the newborn’s body. The test shall be conducted 12 utilizing blood from the newborn’s umbilical cord pursuant to 13 rules of the department. 14 3. The department shall adopt rules as necessary for the 15 administration of this section pursuant to chapter 17A. 16 Sec. 2. Section 232.96A, Code 2023, is amended by adding the 17 following new subsection: 18 NEW SUBSECTION . 18. The child is a newborn infant in whose 19 body there is an illegal drug present at the time of birth. The 20 presence of the illegal drug shall be determined in accordance 21 with section 135.131A. 22 Sec. 3. Section 726.6, subsection 1, Code 2023, is amended 23 by adding the following new paragraph: 24 NEW PARAGRAPH . j. By act or omission, an illegal drug 25 is found to be present in the newborn’s body and the drug’s 26 presence is a direct and foreseeable consequence of the act or 27 omission. Unless the presence of the illegal drug caused death 28 or serious injury to the newborn, the drug’s presence shall be 29 considered to have caused bodily injury to the newborn. For 30 purposes of this paragraph, “newborn” means an infant who is 31 three days of age or younger. 32 Sec. 4. Section 726.6, subsection 7, Code 2023, is amended 33 to read as follows: 34 7. A person who commits child endangerment resulting in 35 -1- LSB 1285XS (4) 90 as/rh 1/ 2

S.F. 88 bodily injury to a child or minor or child endangerment in 1 violation of subsection 1 , paragraph “g” or “j” , that does 2 not result in a serious injury, or a person who commits child 3 endangerment in violation of subsection 2 , is guilty of a class 4 “D” felony. 5 EXPLANATION 6 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 7 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 8 This bill relates to the presence of an illegal drug in a 9 newborn’s body. 10 The bill provides that each newborn born in a birth center 11 or birthing hospital is required to be tested for the presence 12 of an illegal drug in the newborn’s body. The test shall 13 be conducted utilizing umbilical cord testing pursuant to 14 administrative rules. Positive tests shall be reported to the 15 department of health and human services. The bill directs 16 the department to adopt rules as necessary to administer the 17 provisions of the bill pursuant to Code chapter 17A. 18 The bill provides that a newborn with an illegal drug present 19 in the newborn’s body at the time of birth provides grounds for 20 a court to adjudicate that the newborn is a child in need of 21 assistance pursuant to Code section 232.96A. 22 The bill establishes a child endangerment offense for an act 23 or omission which causes an illegal drug to be present in the 24 body of the newborn if the presence of the illegal drug in the 25 body of the newborn is a direct and foreseeable consequence of 26 the act or omission. The term “newborn” means an infant who 27 is three days of age or younger. Unless the presence of the 28 illegal drug caused death or serious injury to the newborn, the 29 drug’s presence is considered to have caused bodily injury to 30 the newborn. 31 A child endangerment offense that causes bodily injury to a 32 child is a class “D” felony. A class “D” felony is punishable 33 by confinement for no more than five years and a fine of at 34 least $1,025 but not more than $10,245. 35 -2- LSB 1285XS (4) 90 as/rh 2/ 2