HOUSE BILL No. 4763

 

 

June 14, 2017, Introduced by Reps. Pagan, Cochran, Dianda, Sneller, Chang, Love, Sabo, Sowerby, Jones, Wittenberg, Geiss, Hoadley, Brinks, Hertel, Greig, Moss, Hammoud and Durhal and referred to the Committee on Health Policy.

 

     A bill to define certain rights of women regarding abortions;

 

to prevent the enforcement of laws and administrative rules that

 

place a burden on a woman's access to abortion; to provide for the

 

powers and duties of certain state and local governmental officers

 

and entities; and to provide remedies.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "whole

 

woman's health act".

 

     Sec. 3. (1) A woman has a fundamental right to choose to

 

obtain an abortion.

 

     (2) This state shall not prohibit a woman from obtaining any

 

of the following:

 

     (a) An abortion before viability.

 

     (b) An abortion at any time throughout the woman's pregnancy

if, in a physician's professional judgment, terminating the woman's

 

pregnancy is necessary to protect the woman's life or health.

 

     Sec. 5. (1) A law or administrative rule of this state

 

regulating abortion that places a burden on a woman's access to

 

abortion is unenforceable if the law or administrative rule does

 

not confer a legitimate health benefit.

 

     (2) As used in this section:

 

     (a) "Confer a legitimate health benefit" means 1 or more of

 

the following:

 

     (i) Expand a woman's access to a health care service.

 

     (ii) Increase a patient's safety according to evidence-based

 

research.

 

     (b) "Places a burden on a woman's access to abortion" means 1

 

or more of the following:

 

     (i) Forces an abortion provider to close.

 

     (ii) Increases the time a woman must wait to have an abortion.

 

     (iii) Requires a meaningful increase in the distance a woman

 

must travel to access care.

 

     (iv) Requires medically unnecessary health center visits.

 

     (v) Requires a health care provider to perform a medical

 

service that the health care provider would not otherwise perform.

 

     (vi) Increases the risk to a woman's health.

 

     (vii) Causes a meaningful increase in procedure cost.

 

     (viii) Has no purpose other than to stigmatize a patient and

 

an abortion provider.

 

     (ix) Has no purpose or effect other than to decrease or

 

eliminate a woman's access to abortion.

     Sec. 7. A person alleging that a state or local official is

 

enforcing a law enacted or an administrative rule promulgated after

 

the effective date of this act that violates section 3 or 5 may

 

bring a civil action for appropriate injunctive relief or damages,

 

or both.

 

     Enacting section 1. This act takes effect 90 days after the

 

date it is enacted into law.