Mississippi Women’s Health Defense Act of 2013 (HB 897)

HB 897 would have prohibited dispensing abortion-inducing drugs (mifepristone-misoprostol regimen) by anyone other than a physician and would have required that the administration of the drugs follow FDA protocols as outlined on the final printed label of the abortion-inducing drug.

The bill also would have required the physician administering the drug to first examine the woman and document, in the woman’s medical chart, the gestational age and intrauterine location of the pregnancy before administering the abortion-inducing drug.

Every pregnant woman to whom a physician administers any abortion-inducing drug would have been required to be provided with a copy of the drug’s label.

The physician would have been required to have a signed contract with a physician who agrees to handle complications and be able to produce that signed contract on demand by the patient or by the Department of Health. The physician also would have been required to provide the pregnant woman with the name and phone number of the physician who will be handling emergencies, and the hospital at which any emergencies will be handled.  The bill states that the physician who contracts to handle emergencies must have active admitting privileges and gynecological/surgical privileges at the hospital designated to handle any emergencies associated with the use or ingestion of the abortion-inducing drug.

Physician Reporting Requirements

The bill would have required physicians to report medical abortions to the State Department of Health. In addition, if the physician knows that the woman experienced an “adverse event,” the physician has to report it to the FDA through the MedWatch Reporting System not later than the third day after the date the physician learns of the occurrence.

STATUS

Companion bill to SB 2795, which was signed into law by Gov. Bryant in April 2013.

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