§ 146B.2 — Determination of postfertilization age — certain abortions prohibited — exceptions — reporting requirements — penalties

Iowa § 146B.2

• Jurisdiction: Iowa
• Title IV: PUBLIC HEALTH
• Ch. 146B: ABORTION — POSTFERTILIZATION AGE

Text

exceptions — reporting requirements — penalties.
1. Except in the case of a medical emergency, in addition to compliance with the
prerequisites of chapter 146A, an abortion shall not be performed or be attempted to be
performed unless the physician performing the abortion has first made a determination of
the probable postfertilization age of the unborn child or relied upon such a determination
made by another physician. In making such a determination, a physician shall make such
§146B.2, ABORTION — POSTFERTILIZATION AGE 2
inquiries of the pregnant woman and perform or cause to be performed such medical
examinations and tests the physician considers necessary in making a reasonable medical
judgment to accurately determine the postfertilization age of the unborn child.
2. a. A physician shall not perform or attempt to perform an abortion upon a pregnant
woman when it has been determined, by the physician performing the abortion or by another
physician upon whose determination that physician relies, that the probable postfertilization
age of the unborn child is twenty or more weeks unless, in the physician’s reasonable medical
judgment, any of the following applies:
(1) Thepregnantwomanhasaconditionwhichthephysiciandeemsamedicalemergency.
(2) The abortion is necessary to preserve the life of an unborn child.
b. If an abortion is performed under this subsection, the physician shall terminate the
human pregnancy in the manner which, in the physician’s reasonable medical judgment,
provides the best opportunity for an unborn child to survive, unless, in the physician’s
reasonable medical judgment, termination of the human pregnancy in that manner would
pose a greater risk than any other available method of the death of the pregnant woman or
of the substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function. A greater
risk shall not be deemed to exist if it is based on a claim or diagnosis that the pregnant
woman will engage in conduct which would result in the pregnant woman’s death or in
substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.
3. A physician who performs or attempts to perform an abortion shall report to the
department, on a schedule and in accordance with forms and rules adopted by the
department, all of the following:
a. If a determination of probable postfertilization age of the unborn child was made, the
probable postfertilization age determined and the method and basis of the determination.
b. If a determination of probable postfertilization age of the unborn child was not made,
the basis of the determination that a medical emergency existed.
c. If the probable postfertilization age of the unborn child was determined to be twenty
or more weeks, the basis of the determination of a medical emergency, or the basis of the
determination that the abortion was necessary to preserve the life of an unborn child.
d. The method used for the abortion and, in the case of an abortion performed when
the probable postfertilization age was determined to be twenty or more weeks, whether
the method of abortion used was one that, in the physician’s reasonable medical judgment,
provided the best opportunity for an unborn child to survive or, if such a method was not
used, the basis of the determination that termination of the human pregnancy in that manner
would pose a greater risk than would any other available method of the death of the pregnant
woman or of the substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.
4. a. By June 30, annually, the department shall issue a public report providing statistics
for the previous calendar year, compiled from the reports for that year submitted in
accordance with subsection 3. The department shall ensure that none of the information
included in the public reports could reasonably lead to the identification of any woman upon
whom an abortion was performed.
b. (1) A physician who fails to submit a report by the end of thirty days following the due
date shall be subject to a late fee of five hundred dollars for each additional thirty-day period
or portion of a thirty-day period the report is overdue.
(2) A physician required to report in accordance with subsection 3 who has not submitted
a report or who has submitted only an incomplete report more than one year following the
due date, may, in an action brought in the manner in which actions are brought to enforce
chapter 148, be directed by a court of competent jurisdiction to submit a complete report
within a time period stated by court order or be subject to contempt of court.
(3) A physician who intentionally or recklessly falsifies a report required under this
section is subject to a civil penalty of one hundred dollars.
5. Any medical facility in which a physician is authorized to perform an abortion shall
implement written medical policies and procedures consistent with the requirements and
prohibitions of this chapter.
3 ABORTION — POSTFERTILIZATION AGE, §146B.3
6. The department shall adopt rules to implement this section.