SB209.html

Chapter 9 of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to consent for surgical or medical treatment, is amended by inserting at the end thereof the following:
"31-9-8.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) 'Abortion information' means a communication including the following:
(A) A full, reasonable, and comprehensible medical explanation of the nature, benefits, and risks of and alternatives to the proposed procedures or protocols to be followed in the pregnant woman´s particular case;
(B) An instruction that the woman may withdraw her consent at any time prior to the performance of the procedure;
(C) An offer for the woman to speak with the physician who is to perform the abortion so that he or she may answer any questions that the woman may have and provide further information concerning the procedures and protocols;
(D) A statement of the probable gestational age of the fetus at the time the abortion is to be performed; and
(E) An offer to review the printed materials described in subsection (e) of this Code section. This offer for the woman to review the material shall advise her that:
(i) The department publishes printed materials that describe the fetus and lists agencies that offer alternatives to abortion;
(ii) Medical assistance benefits may be available for prenatal care, childbirth, and neonatal care and that more detailed information on the availability of such assistance is contained in the printed materials published by the department;
(iii) The father of the fetus is liable to assist in the support of her child, even in instances where he has offered to pay for the abortion, that assistance in the collection of such support is available, and that more detailed information on the availability of such assistance is contained in the printed materials published by the department; and
(iv) She has the right to review the materials printed by the department and that copies will be provided to her free of charge if she chooses to review them.
(2) 'Informed written consent' means the knowing and voluntary written consent to abortion by a pregnant woman of any age, after she has been provided abortion information as required by subsection (c) of this Code section, and without undue inducement or any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, or other form of constraint or coercion by the physician who is to perform the abortion or his or her agent.
(3) 'Medical emergency' means any condition which, on the basis of the physician´s good faith clinical judgment, so complicates the medical condition of a pregnant woman as to necessitate the immediate abortion of her pregnancy to avert her death or for which a delay will create a serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.
(b) Before performing any abortion, inducing any miscarriage, or terminating a pregnancy, the physician shall provide abortion information to the pregnant woman as provided in subsection (c) of this Code section and shall obtain the informed written consent of the pregnant woman; provided, however, that if the woman has been adjudicated incapacitated by any court of competent jurisdiction or if the physician knows or has good reason to believe that such woman is incapacitated as adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction, then only after such abortion information has been provided to and written permission given by a parent, guardian, or other person standing in loco parentis to the woman, may the physician perform the abortion or otherwise terminate the pregnancy.
(c) Any informed consent obtained without first providing abortion information as provided in this subsection shall be void and of no effect. Abortion information shall be provided by telephone or in person to the woman at least 24 hours before the abortion by the physician who is to perform the abortion, by a referring physician, or by a licensed professional or practical nurse working under the direct supervision of either the physician who is to perform the abortion or the referring physician; provided, however, that the abortion information may be provided instead by a licensed health care professional working under the direct supervision of either the physician who is to perform the abortion or the referring physician. Where the woman has advised that the pregnancy is the result of a rape, the information in division (1)(E)(iii) of subsection (a) of this Code section may be omitted. If the pregnant woman chooses to review the materials published by the department that describe the fetus and list agencies that offer alternatives to abortion, such materials shall be provided to her at least 24 hours before the abortion or mailed to her at least 72 hours before the abortion by first class mail or, if the woman requests, by certified mail, restricted delivery.
(d) The abortion information required by this Code section may be provided by telephone without conducting a physical examination of or tests upon the woman, in which case the information required to be provided may be based on facts supplied by the woman and whatever other relevant information is reasonably available to the physician. If a physical examination, tests, or the availability of other information to the physician or the nurse subsequently indicates, in the medical judgment of the physician or the nurse, a revision of the information previously supplied to the woman, that revised information may be communicated to the woman at any time prior to the performance of the abortion.
(e) The physician need not obtain the informed written consent of the woman when the abortion is to be performed pursuant to a medical emergency.
(f) On or before December 31, 2001, the department shall publish, in English and in each language which is the primary language of 2 percent or more of the population of this state, the following printed materials in such a way as to ensure that the information is easily comprehensible:

(1) Geographically indexed materials designed to inform the woman of public and private agencies and services available to assist a woman through pregnancy; upon childbirth and while the child is dependent, including, but not limited to, information on services relating to adoption; paternity establishment and child support enforcement; child development; child rearing and stress management; and pediatric and maternal health care. The materials shall include a comprehensive list of the names and telephone numbers of the agencies or, at the option of the department, printed materials including a toll-free, 24 hour telephone number which may be called to obtain, orally, such a list and description of agencies in the locality of the caller and the services they offer;
(2) Materials designed to inform the woman of the probable anatomical and physiological characteristics of the human fetus at two-week gestational increments from the time when a woman can be known to be pregnant to full term, including any relevant information on the possibility of the fetus´s survival and pictures or drawings representing the development of the human fetus at two-week gestational increments. Such pictures or drawings shall contain the dimensions of the fetus and shall be realistic and appropriate for the stage of pregnancy depicted. The materials shall be objective, nonjudgmental, and designed to convey only accurate scientific information about the human fetus at the various gestational ages; and
(3) Materials containing objective information describing the methods of abortion procedures commonly employed, the medical risks commonly associated with each such procedure, the possible detrimental psychological effects of abortion, and the medical risks commonly associated with carrying a child to term. The department shall make these materials available at each local health department and, upon request, to any person or entity in reasonable numbers and without cost to the requesting party.
(g) Any physician who fails to comply with the provisions of this Code section shall be subject to a $5,000.00 civil penalty."