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HB2184 - 572R - H Ver
House Engrossed
fetal death; funeral
homes
State of Arizona
House of Representatives
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
HOUSE BILL 2184
AN
ACT
Amending sections 36-329 and 36-2153,
Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to human remains.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be
it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 36-329, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE
36-329.
Fetal death certificate registration
A. A hospital, abortion clinic, physician or midwife
shall submit a completed fetal death certificate to the state registrar for
registration within seven days after the fetal death for each fetal death
occurring in this state after a gestational period of twenty completed weeks
or at or before a GESTATIONAL period of twenty completed weeks, if
requested by the mother
or if the unborn child weighs more
than three hundred fifty grams
.
B. The requirements for registering a fetal death
certificate are the same as the requirements for registering a death
certificate prescribed in section 36-325.
END_STATUTE
Sec. 2. Section 36-2153, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE
36-2153.
Informed consent;
requirements; information; website; signage; violation; civil relief; statute
of limitations
A. An abortion shall not be performed or induced
without the voluntary and informed consent of the woman on whom the abortion is
to be performed or induced. Except in the case of a medical
emergency and in addition to the other requirements of this chapter, consent to
an abortion is voluntary and informed only if all of the following are true:
1. At least twenty-four hours before the
abortion, the physician who is to perform the abortion or the referring
physician has informed the woman, orally and in person, of:
(a) The name of the physician who will perform the
abortion.
(b) The nature of the proposed procedure or
treatment.
(c) The immediate and long-term medical risks
associated with the procedure that a reasonable patient would consider material
to the decision of whether or not to undergo the abortion.
(d) Alternatives to the procedure or treatment that
a reasonable patient would consider material to the decision of whether or not
to undergo the abortion.
(e) The probable gestational age of the unborn child
at the time the abortion is to be performed.
(f) The probable anatomical and physiological
characteristics of the unborn child at the time the abortion is to be
performed.
(g) The medical risks associated with carrying the
unborn
child to term.
2. At least twenty-four hours before the
abortion, the physician who is to perform the abortion, the referring physician
or a qualified physician, physician assistant, nurse, psychologist or licensed
behavioral health professional to whom the responsibility has been delegated by
either physician has informed the woman, orally and in person, that:
(a) Medical assistance benefits may be available for
prenatal care, childbirth and neonatal care.
(b) The father of the unborn child is liable to
assist in the support of the child, even if he has offered to pay for the
abortion.� In the case of rape or incest, this information may be omitted.
(c) Public and private agencies and services are
available to assist the woman during her pregnancy and after the birth of her
child if she chooses not to have an abortion, whether she chooses to keep the
child or place the child for adoption.
(d) It is unlawful for any person to coerce a woman
to undergo an abortion.
(e) The woman is free to withhold or withdraw her
consent to the abortion at any time without affecting her right to future care
or treatment and without the loss of any state or federally funded benefits to
which she might otherwise be entitled.
(f) The department of health services maintains a
website that describes the unborn child and lists the agencies that offer
alternatives to abortion.
(g) The woman has the right to review the website
and that a printed copy of the materials on the website will be provided to her
free of charge if she chooses to review these materials.
(h) In the case of a surgical abortion, the woman
has the right to determine final disposition of bodily remains and to be
informed of
the option to transfer the bodily remains to a
funeral home and of
the available options for locations and methods for
disposition of bodily remains.
3. The information in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this
subsection is provided to the woman individually and in a private room to
protect her privacy and to ensure that the information focuses on her
individual circumstances and that she has adequate opportunity to ask
questions.
4. The woman certifies in writing before the
abortion that the information required to be provided pursuant to paragraphs 1
and 2 of this subsection has been provided.
5. In the case of a surgical abortion, if the woman
desires to exercise her right to determine final disposition of bodily remains,
the woman indicates in writing her choice for the location and method of final
disposition of bodily remains.
B. If a woman has taken mifepristone as part of a
two-drug regimen to terminate her pregnancy, has not yet taken the second
drug and consults an abortion clinic questioning her decision to terminate her
pregnancy or seeking information regarding the health of her
fetus
unborn child
or the efficacy of mifepristone alone to
terminate a pregnancy, the abortion clinic staff shall inform the woman that
the use of mifepristone alone to end a pregnancy is not always effective and
that she should immediately consult a physician if she would like more
information.
C. If a medical emergency compels the performance of
an abortion, the physician shall inform the woman, before the abortion if
possible, of the medical indications supporting the physician's judgment that
an abortion is necessary to avert the woman's death or to avert substantial and
irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.
D. The department of health services shall establish
and shall annually update a website that includes a link to a printable version
of all materials listed on the website.� The materials must be written in an
easily understood manner and printed in a typeface that is large enough to be
clearly legible. The website must include all of the following
materials:
1. Information that is organized geographically by
location and that is designed to inform the woman about public and private
agencies and services that are available to assist a woman through pregnancy,
at childbirth and while her child is dependent, including adoption agencies.�
The materials shall include a comprehensive list of the agencies, a description
of the services they offer and the manner in which these agencies may be
contacted, including the agencies' telephone numbers and website addresses.
2. Information on the availability of medical
assistance benefits for prenatal care, childbirth and neonatal care.
3. A statement that it is unlawful for any person to
coerce a woman to undergo an abortion.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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
an unborn
child to term.
8. Information explaining the efficacy of
mifepristone taken alone, without a follow-up drug as part of a two-drug
regimen, to terminate a pregnancy and advising a woman to immediately contact a
physician if the woman has taken only mifepristone and questions her decision
to terminate her pregnancy or seeks information regarding the health of her
fetus
unborn child
.
E. An individual who is not a physician shall not
perform a surgical abortion.
F. A person shall not write or communicate a
prescription for a drug or drugs to induce an abortion or require or obtain
payment for a service provided to a patient who has inquired about an abortion
or scheduled an abortion until the twenty-four-hour reflection
period required by subsection A of this section expires.
G. A person shall not intimidate or coerce in any
way any person to obtain an abortion.� A parent, a guardian or any other person
shall not coerce a minor to obtain an abortion. If a minor is denied
financial support by the minor's parents, guardians or custodian due to the
minor's refusal to have an abortion performed, the minor is deemed emancipated
for the purposes of eligibility for public assistance benefits, except that the
emancipated minor may not use these benefits to obtain an abortion.
H. An abortion clinic as defined in section 36-449.01
shall conspicuously post signs that are visible to all who enter the abortion
clinic, that are clearly readable and that state it is unlawful for any person
to force a woman to have an abortion and a woman who is being forced to have an
abortion has the right to contact any local or state law enforcement or social
service agency to receive protection from any actual or threatened physical,
emotional or psychological abuse. The signs shall be posted in the
waiting room, consultation rooms and procedure rooms.
I. A person shall not require a woman to obtain an
abortion as a provision in a contract or as a condition of employment.
J. A physician who knowingly violates this section
commits an act of unprofessional conduct and is subject to license suspension
or revocation pursuant to title 32, chapter 13 or 17.
K. In addition to other remedies available under the
common or statutory law of this state, any of the following may file a civil
action to obtain appropriate relief for a violation of this section:
1. A woman on whom an abortion has been performed
without her informed consent as required by this section.
2. The father of the unborn child if the father was
married to the mother at the time she received the abortion, unless the
pregnancy resulted from the plaintiff's criminal conduct.
3. A maternal grandparent of the unborn child if the
mother was not at least eighteen years of age at the time of the abortion,
unless the pregnancy resulted from the plaintiff's criminal conduct.
L. A civil action filed pursuant to subsection K of
this section shall be brought in the superior court in the county in which the
woman on whom the abortion was performed resides and may be based on a claim
that failure to obtain informed consent was a result of simple negligence,
gross negligence, wantonness, wilfulness, intention or any other legal standard
of care. Relief pursuant to subsection K of this section includes
the following:
1. Money damages for all psychological, emotional
and physical injuries resulting from the violation of this section.
2. Statutory damages in an amount equal to $5,000 or
three times the cost of the abortion, whichever is greater.
3. Reasonable attorney fees and costs.
M. A civil action brought pursuant to this section
must be initiated within six years after the violation occurred.
END_STATUTE