Arizona Omnibus Abortion Bill (HB 2036)

20-Week Abortion Ban

Bans abortion at 20 weeks “probable gestational age” unless an abortion is necessary to avert the woman’s death or if a delay will create serious risk to the woman of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.

The bill includes legislative findings that abortion can cause both short-term and long-term physical and psychological complications for women. These findings are based on junk science, including a study already debunked by Guttmacher Institute. This bill is unique because it is not tied to fetal pain, but to health of the mother.

The Ninth Circuit struck down the 20-week abortion ban in Isaacson v. Horne.

Codified at A.R.S. § 36-2159.

TRAP Provisions

• Physicians performing surgical abortions are required to have admitting privileges at a health-care institution that is classified as a hospital pursuant to Section 36-405 and that is within 30 miles of the abortion clinic.
• After inducing medication abortion, a physician, registered nurse, nurse practitioner, licensed practical nurse, or physician’s assistant is present to provide post-operative monitoring and care until each patient who had an abortion that day is discharged.
• For medication abortion, a post-abortion medical visit must be scheduled between one week and three weeks after initial dose of medication to confirm pregnancy is completely terminated.

Codified at A.R.S. 36-449.03.

Reporting Requirements

Provides for civil penalties for violation of reporting requirements.

Medication Abortion Restrictions

Abortion-inducing drugs must be administered in compliance with FDA-approved drug labels.

Codified at A.R.S. 36-449.03.

Parental Consent

Amends parental consent law to provide for a specific department of health form, which must include specific information regarding medical risks of abortion.

Informed Consent; Ultrasound Required

Requires that woman be offered an an opportunity to view the active ultrasound image of the unborn child and hear the heartbeat of the unborn child if the heartbeat is audible; woman be offered a simultaneous explanation of what the ultrasound is depicting; woman be offered a physical picture of the ultrasound image of the unborn child.

Codified at A.R.S. § 36-2156. 

Informed Consent; Requirements; Information; Website 

HB 2036 requires the Arizona Department of Health to maintain a website that describes in detail the “unborn child,” and lists agencies that offer alternatives to abortion. The bill also provides that a woman has a right to review the website and receive a free printed copy of the materials on the website.

The bill requires the health department to establish a website within 90 days of the effective date of the amendment, and to update the website annually. The website must contain links to a printable version of all materials on the website. The website must include the following materials:

• Information on the availability of medical assistance benefits for prenatal care, childbirth and neonatal care;
• A statement that it is unlawful for any person to coerce a woman to undergo an abortion;
• A statement that any physician who performs an abortion on a woman without obtaining the woman’s voluntary and informed consent or without affording her a private medical consultation may be liable to the woman for damages in a civil action;
• A statement that the father of a child is liable to assist in the support of that child, even if the father has offered to pay for an abortion, and that the law allows adoptive parents to pay costs of prenatal care, childbirth, and neonatal care;
• Information that is designed to inform the woman of the probable anatomical and physiological characteristics of the unborn child at two-week gestational increments from fertilization to full term, including pictures or drawings representing the development of unborn children at two-week gestational increments and any relevant information on the possibility of the unborn child’s survival. The pictures or drawings must contain the dimensions of the unborn child and must be realistic and appropriate for each stage of pregnancy. The information provided pursuant to this paragraph must be objective, nonjudgmental, and designed to convey only accurate scientific information about the unborn child at the various gestational ages;
• Objective information that describes the methods of abortion procedures commonly employed, the medical risks commonly associated with each procedure, the possible detrimental psychological effects of abortion, and the medical risks commonly associated with carrying a child to term.

Codified at A.R.S. § 36-2153.

Informed Consent; Fetal Condition

Codified at A.R.S. § 36-2158.

STATUS

The 20-week ban provision of this bill was challenged in court. The Ninth Circuit struck it down as unconstitutional in Isaacson v. Horne.

People

Legal Cases

• Planned Parenthood Arizona, Inc. v. Humble II
• Isaacson v. Horne