§ 71-502.03 — Pregnant women; subject to syphilis tests; declination; fee; human immunodeficiency virus infection test; declination

Nebraska § 71-502.03

• Jurisdiction: Nebraska
• Ch. 71: Public Health and Welfare

Text

(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, every physician, or other person authorized by law to practice obstetrics, who is attending a pregnant woman in the state for conditions relating to her pregnancy during the period of gestation or at delivery shall take, or shall direct an authorized person to take, a sample of the blood of such woman at the time of the first examination, third trimester examination, and birth and shall submit such sample to an approved laboratory for a standard serological test for syphilis. Every other person permitted by law to attend pregnant women in the state, but not permitted by law to take blood samples, shall direct such a sample of the blood of such pregnant women to be taken by a physician, duly licensed to practice either medicine and surgery or obstetrics, or other person authorized by law to take such sample of blood and have such sample submitted to an approved laboratory for a standard serological test for syphilis.
(2) Each pregnant woman shall be informed, in clear and understandable language, by the physician or other person authorized by law to practice obstetrics, that such test is voluntary and may be declined verbally or in writing.
(3) The results of all such laboratory tests shall be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services on standard forms prescribed and furnished by the department. For the purpose of this section, a standard serological test shall be a test for syphilis approved by the department and shall be made at a laboratory approved to make such tests by the department. Such laboratory tests, as are required by this section, shall be made on request at the Department of Health and Human Services Laboratory. A fee may be established by rule and regulation by the department to defray no more than the actual cost of such tests. Such fee shall be deposited in the state treasury and credited to the Health and Human Services Cash Fund. In reporting every birth and stillbirth, physicians and others required to make such reports shall state on the portion of the certificate entitled For Medical and Health Use Only whether a blood test for syphilis has been made upon a specimen of blood taken from the woman who bore the child for which a birth or stillbirth certificate is filed and the approximate date when the specimen was taken. No birth certificate shall show the result of such test. If no test was made, the reason shall be stated. The department shall provide the necessary clerical, printing, and other expenses in carrying out this section.
(4)(a) Subject to subdivision (4)(b) of this section, every physician or other person authorized by law to practice obstetrics who is attending a pregnant woman in the state for conditions relating to her pregnancy during the period of gestation shall administer or cause to be administered a test of the pregnant woman's blood for the presence of the human immunodeficiency virus infection.
(b) The pregnant woman shall be informed, in clear and understandable language, by the physician or other person authorized by law to practice obstetrics, that such test is voluntary and may be declined verbally or in writing.

Legislative History

Source: Laws 1943, c. 149, § 1, p. 536; R.S.1943, § 71-1116; Laws 1967, c. 447, § 1, p. 1390; Laws 1983, LB 617, § 19; Laws 1986, LB 1047, § 3; R.S.1943, (1986), § 71-1116; Laws 1988, LB 1012, § 6; Laws 1996, LB 1044, § 491; Laws 2007, LB296, § 379; Laws 2018, LB285, § 1; Laws 2025, LB41, § 1. Effective Date: September 3, 2025