AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE I OF THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO THE RIGHT TO REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM.

Plain English Breakdown

The candidate explanation included terms like 'fetal viability' which were not mentioned in the provided official source material.

Proposing an Amendment to Protect Reproductive Rights in Delaware

This act proposes a constitutional amendment that would protect reproductive rights for individuals in Delaware, including decisions about pregnancy and medical care.

What This Bill Does

• Adds a new section to the Delaware Constitution protecting the right of every person to make decisions about their own reproduction.
• Clarifies that this includes all aspects of pregnancy management such as prenatal care, abortion, and postpartum care.
• Specifies that healthcare providers can perform abortions if they believe it is necessary for the health or life of the patient based on a good-faith medical judgment.
• Requires two-thirds majority votes in both houses of the Delaware General Assembly to pass this amendment.

Who It Names or Affects

• All residents of Delaware who are able to make decisions about their reproductive health.
• Healthcare providers who may be involved in providing abortion services or other reproductive care.

Terms To Know

Reproductive freedom

The right for individuals to decide on matters related to pregnancy and childbirth, including access to contraception, abortion, and prenatal/postnatal care.

Limits and Unknowns

• This amendment needs to pass again after the next general election before it becomes part of the Delaware Constitution.
• It does not specify how healthcare providers will be trained or regulated under this new law.
• The exact impact on current laws and regulations regarding reproductive health services is unclear.

Official Summary Text

AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE I OF THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO THE RIGHT TO REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM.
Like Senate Bill No. 5, this Act is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution to ensure that every Delawarean is afforded reproductive freedom.

This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 5 by making the following clarifications:
(1) That an individual has a fundamental right to reproductive freedom relating to that individual’s pregnancy.
(2) That the standard of medical judgment is a “good-faith medical judgment” rather than a “professional judgment”.
(3) That the health care professional making the good-faith medical judgment is the “treating attending health care professional” rather than the “attending health care professional”.

Amending the Delaware Constitution requires not only the passing of the changes in this Act, but also passage of the same changes after the next general election by the next General Assembly.

This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend the Delaware Constitution.

Current Bill Text

Legislation Document

SPONSOR:

Sen. Townsend & Sen. Lockman & Sen. Pinkney & Rep. Minor-Brown & Rep. Heffernan & Rep. K. Johnson & Rep. Griffith & Rep. Bush & Rep. Morrison

Sens. Cruce, Hansen, Hoffner, Huxtable, Paradee, Poore, Seigfried, Sokola, Sturgeon, Walsh; Reps. Gorman, Harris, Lambert, S. Moore, Neal, Osienski, Phillips, Romer, Ross Levin, Snyder-Hall

DELAWARE STATE SENATE

153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SENATE SUBSTITUTE NO. 1

FOR

SENATE BILL NO. 5

AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE I OF THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO THE RIGHT TO REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE (Two-thirds of all members elected to each house thereof concurring therein):

Section 1. Amend Article I of the Delaware Constitution by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

§ 22. Right to reproductive freedom.

(a) Every individual has a fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which entails the right to make and effectuate decisions about all matters relating to that individual’s pregnancy, including prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, sterilization, abortion care, miscarriage management, and infertility care.

(b) An individual’s right to reproductive freedom shall not be denied, burdened, nor infringed upon.

(c) This State may regulate the provision of abortion care after fetal viability, provided that in no circumstance shall this State prohibit an abortion that, in the good-faith medical judgment of a treating attending health care professional, is medically indicated to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual.

SYNOPSIS

Like Senate Bill No. 5, this Act is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution to ensure that every Delawarean is afforded reproductive freedom.

This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 5 by making the following clarifications:

(1) That an individual has a fundamental right to reproductive freedom relating to that individual’s pregnancy.

(2) That the standard of medical judgment is a “good-faith medical judgment” rather than a “professional judgment”.

(3) That the health care professional making the good-faith medical judgment is the “treating attending health care professional” rather than the “attending health care professional”.

Amending the Delaware Constitution requires not only the passing of the changes in this Act, but also passage of the same changes after the next general election by the next General Assembly.

This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend the Delaware Constitution.

Author: Senator Townsend