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HB0137 • 2024

Chemical abortions-ultrasound requirement.

AN ACT relating to abortions; requiring ultrasounds before the procurement of chemical abortions; providing verification requirements; providing definitions; providing penalties; specifying applicability; providing for the conflict of laws; and providing for an effective date.

Abortion Healthcare
Did Not Pass

The latest official action shows that this bill did not move forward in that session.

Sponsor
Representative Neiman
Last action
2024-02-16
Official status
inactive
Effective date
3/1/2024

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material confirms all aspects of the candidate explanation, but notes that the bill did not pass and was not considered for introduction.

Ultrasound Requirement Before Chemical Abortion

This act requires pregnant women to have an ultrasound before obtaining drugs for a chemical abortion and sets penalties for not following this rule.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires a woman seeking a chemical abortion to get an ultrasound at least 48 hours before getting the necessary drugs or substances.
  • Ensures that the ultrasound is of high quality, consistent with standard medical practices in the community.
  • Recommends providing the woman with a document detailing information about the ultrasound and her pregnancy.
  • Requires doctors or pharmacists to confirm that an ultrasound has been done before giving out abortion drugs.
  • Sets penalties for anyone who breaks this law, but not for women seeking abortions.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Pregnant women seeking chemical abortions
  • Doctors and pharmacists providing abortion services

Terms To Know

Chemical abortion
An abortion that uses drugs or substances to end a pregnancy.
Ultrasound
A medical imaging technique using sound waves to see inside the body, often used during pregnancy.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill did not pass and was not considered for introduction.
  • It does not specify how or where ultrasounds should be performed.
  • Details about enforcement and compliance are not provided in the summary text.

Bill History

  1. 2024-02-16 House

    H Did not Consider for Introduction

  2. 2024-02-09 House

    H Received for Introduction

  3. 2024-02-08 LSO

    Bill Number Assigned

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
24LSO-0431
2024
STATE OF WYOMING
24LSO-0431
Numbered
2.0

HOUSE BILL NO. HB0137

Chemical abortions-ultrasound requirement.

Sponsored by: Representative(s) Neiman, Angelos, Bear, Heiner, Jennings, Lawley, Niemiec, Penn, Rodriguez-Williams, Slagle, Strock, Styvar, Ward and Washut and Senator(s) Biteman, Boner, Brennan, Salazar and Steinmetz

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to abortions; requiring ultrasounds before the procurement of chemical abortions; providing verification requirements; providing definitions; providing penalties; specifying applicability; providing for the conflict of laws; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1
.

W.S. 35
‑
6
‑
201 and 35
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6
‑
202 are created to read:

ARTICLE 2
REGULATION OF ABORTIONS

35
‑
6
‑
201.

Abortion facilities; licensure requirements verification; prohibitions; definitions; penalties.

(a)

As used in this article:

(i)

"Abortion" means the act of using or prescribing any instrument, medicine, drug or any other substance, device or means with the intent to terminate the pregnancy of a woman, including the elimination of one (1) or more unborn babies in a multifetal pregnancy, with knowledge that the termination by those means will, with reasonable likelihood, cause the death of the unborn baby. "Abortion" shall not include any use, prescription or means specified in this paragraph if the use, prescription or means are done with the intent to:

(A)

Save the life or preserve the health of the unborn baby;

(B)

Remove a dead unborn baby caused by spontaneous abortion or intrauterine fetal demise;

(C)

Treat a woman for an ectopic pregnancy; or

(D)

Treat a woman for cancer or another disease that requires medical treatment which treatment may be fatal or harmful to the unborn baby.

(ii)

"Chemical abortion" means an abortion that is procured, completed or effectuated by means of a drug, substance or any combination thereof;

(iii)

"Pregnancy" or "pregnant" means the human female reproductive condition of having a living unborn baby or human being within a human female's body throughout the entire embryonic and fetal stages of the unborn human being from fertilization, when a fertilized egg has implanted in the wall of the uterus, to full gestation and childbirth.

(b)

Not less than forty
‑
eight (48) hours before a pregnant woman procures the drugs or substances for a chemical abortion or before a physician or pharmacist dispenses the drugs or substances necessary for a chemical abortion, whichever is earlier, the pregnant woman shall receive an ultrasound in order to provide the pregnant woman the opportunity to view the active ultrasound of the unborn child and hear the heartbeat of the unborn child if the heartbeat is audible.

(c)

The ultrasound required under subsection (b) of this section shall be of a quality consistent with standard medical practice in the community.

(d)

Upon providing an ultrasound under this section, the provider of the ultrasound shall provide the pregnant woman with a document that specifies:

(i)

The date, time and place of the ultrasound;

(ii)

The physician who ordered or requested the ultrasound;

(iii)

The physician or technician who performed the ultrasound;

(iv)

The age and weight of the unborn child.

(e)

Before a physician or pharmacist dispenses the drugs or substances necessary for a chemical abortion to a pregnant woman, the physician or pharmacist shall verify that the ultrasound required by this section occurred.

(f)

Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, any person who violates this section shall be guilty of a felony punishable by a fine not to exceed twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00), imprisonment for not more than five (5) years, or both. Nothing in this section shall be construed to subject a pregnant woman to any criminal penalty under this subsection.

35
‑
6
‑
202.

Ultrasound requirement; conflict of laws; applicability.

If any provision of this article conflicts with the Life is a Human Right Act or W.S. 35
‑
6
‑
139, the provisions of the Life is a Human Right Act and W.S. 35
‑
6
‑
139 shall control over this article to the extent that the Life is a Human Right Act and W.S. 35
‑
6
‑
139 are enforceable.

Section 2
.

This act is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.

(END)

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HB0137