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HB0250 • 2025
Defining life and the rights of natural persons.
AN ACT relating to statutes and rules of construction; specifying definitions and rules of construction for the term "person"; specifying exceptions; making conforming amendments; and providing for an effective date.
Abortion
Healthcare
Parental Rights
Did Not Pass
The latest official action shows that this bill did not move forward in that session.
- Sponsor
- Representative Neiman
- Last action
- 2025-02-10
- Official status
- inactive
- Effective date
- 3/1/2025
Plain English Breakdown
The bill text does not specify that the Wyoming Board of Medicine evaluates all exception determinations, only that they are involved in evaluating them.
Defining Life and Rights of Natural Persons
The bill amends the definition of 'person' to include living human beings with certain biological functions or developmental stages, granting them health protections under Wyoming law.
What This Bill Does
- Amends the definition of a person to include an individual who is a living human being entitled to protection of their health.
- Specifies that for an individual to be considered a person, they must have at least one of seven listed biological functions or developments.
- Limits the ability of parents, guardians, and legal representatives to make harmful healthcare decisions without medical necessity.
Who It Names or Affects
- Living human beings who meet the defined criteria for being a person
- Parents, guardians, and legal representatives making health care decisions
Terms To Know
- Person
- A living human being with certain biological functions or developmental stages.
- Health Care Decisions Act
- An existing law that this bill does not apply to.
Limits and Unknowns
- The bill did not pass and was not considered by the Committee of the Whole.
- It is unclear how this definition will be applied in specific cases or its impact on current laws.
Amendments
These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.
HB0250HW001
Committee of the Whole • Representative Clouston
Filed
Plain English: The amendment adds new provisions that clarify exceptions for the diagnosis and treatment of certain medical conditions during pregnancy, ensuring healthcare providers can continue to offer necessary care without facing legal consequences.
- Adds specific protections for diagnosing and treating ectopic pregnancies and managing miscarriages.
- Ensures health care providers are not penalized for providing emergency treatments like surgery or medication when a patient's life is at risk.
- Clarifies that certain medical procedures, such as dilation and curettage (D&C) and dilation and evacuation (D&E), do not count as abortions if the pregnancy is no longer viable.
- Protects hospitals and medical facilities from restrictions on providing care for miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, and neonatal/pediatric treatments.
- The amendment does not cover all possible scenarios or conditions that might arise in healthcare settings.
Bill History
-
2025-02-10
House
H COW:H Did not consider for COW
-
2025-02-07
House
H Placed on General File
-
2025-02-07
House
H10 - Labor:Recommend Do Pass 7-1-1-0-0
-
2025-01-29
House
H Introduced and Referred to H10 - Labor
-
2025-01-20
House
H Received for Introduction
-
2025-01-20
LSO
Bill Number Assigned
Current Bill Text
Read the full stored bill text
25LSO-0675
2025
STATE OF WYOMING
25LSO-0675
Numbered
2.0
HOUSE BILL NO. HB0250
Defining life and the rights of natural persons.
Sponsored by: Representative(s) Neiman, Angelos, Bear, Geringer, Haroldson and Heiner and Senator(s) Biteman, Dockstader, Hicks, Hutchings and Steinmetz
A BILL
for
AN ACT relating to statutes and rules of construction; specifying definitions and rules of construction for the term "person"; specifying exceptions; making conforming amendments; and providing for an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
Section 1
.
W.S. 8
‑
1
‑
102(a)(vi) and 8
‑
1
‑
103 by creating a new subsection (b) are amended to read:
8
‑
1
‑
102.
Definitions.
(a)
As used in the statutes unless the legislature clearly specifies a different meaning or interpretation or the context clearly requires a different meaning:
(vi)
"Person" includes an individual, partnership, corporation, joint stock company or any other association or entity, public or private
. When applicable to an individual, the interpretation and construction specified in W.S. 8
‑
1
‑
103(b) shall apply to this definition
;
8
‑
1
‑
103.
Rules of construction for statutes.
(b)
For purposes of interpretation and construction under the Wyoming constitution and all statutes of this state, the following shall apply:
(i)
All individual persons are living human beings entitled to protection of their health. This right is a fundamental right entitled to full protection under the Wyoming constitution;
(ii)
When applicable to an individual person, "person" is someone who possesses at least one (1) of the following:
(A)
Heart function;
(B)
Respiratory system function;
(C)
Central nervous system function;
(D)
Brain function;
(E)
Skeletal development or function;
(F)
Joint or muscle appendage development;
(G)
Organ function.
(iii)
No parent, guardian or legal representative of any other person shall make health care decisions causing harm to the functions specified in paragraph (ii) of this subsection except as necessary when medically documented and as a necessity to save the life of a pregnant woman and except for the discontinuation of medical treatment or care that keeps a person alive where a doctor has documented that there is no chance of a meaningful recovery. All exception determinations under this paragraph shall be evaluated by the Wyoming board of medicine;
(iv)
The definitions and rules of construction specified in this subsection shall not apply to the Wyoming Health Care Decisions Act.
Section 2
.
This act is effective July 1, 2025
.
(END)
1
HB0250