Montana Code 50-20-705. Distribution of abortion-inducing drugs
50-20-705. Distribution of abortion-inducing drugs. (1) Because the failure and complication rates from a chemical abortion increase with advancing gestational age and because the physical symptoms of chemical abortion can be identical to the symptoms of ectopic pregnancy and abortion-inducing drugs do not treat ectopic pregnancies and are contraindicated in ectopic pregnancies, the qualified medical practitioner providing an abortion-inducing drug shall examine the woman in person and, prior to providing an abortion-inducing drug, shall:
Terms Used In Montana Code 50-20-705
- Abortion: means the act of using or prescribing an instrument, medicine, drug, or any other substance, device, or means with the intent to terminate the clinically diagnosable pregnancy of a woman, with knowledge that termination by those means will with reasonable likelihood cause the death of the unborn child. See Montana Code 50-20-703
- Associated medical practitioner: means a person authorized under 50-20-109 to perform an abortion who has entered into an associated medical practitioner agreement. See Montana Code 50-20-703
- chemical abortion: means a medicine, drug, or any other substance provided with the intent of terminating the clinically diagnosable pregnancy of a woman with knowledge that the termination will with reasonable likelihood cause the death of the unborn child. See Montana Code 50-20-703
- Complication: means an adverse physical or psychological condition arising from the performance of an abortion, including but not limited to uterine perforation, cervical perforation, infection, heavy or uncontrolled bleeding, hemorrhage, blood clots resulting in pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis, failure to actually terminate the pregnancy, incomplete abortion, pelvic inflammatory disease, endometritis, missed ectopic pregnancy, cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest, renal failure, metabolic disorder, shock, embolism, coma, placenta previa in subsequent pregnancies, preterm delivery in subsequent pregnancies, free fluid in the abdomen, hemolytic reaction due to the administration of ABO-incompatible blood or blood products, adverse reactions to anesthesia and other drugs, subsequent development of breast cancer, death, psychological complications such as depression, suicidal ideation, anxiety, and sleeping disorders, and any other adverse event. See Montana Code 50-20-703
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Department: means the department of public health and human services provided for in 2-15-2201. See Montana Code 50-20-104
- gestational age: means the time that has elapsed since the first day of the woman's last menstrual period. See Montana Code 50-20-703
- Medical practitioner: means a person authorized under 50-20-109 to perform an abortion in this state. See Montana Code 50-20-703
- Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- pregnancy: means the female reproductive condition of having an unborn child in the uterus. See Montana Code 50-20-703
- Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
- Qualified medical practitioner: means a medical practitioner who has the ability to:
(a)identify and document a viable intrauterine pregnancy;
(b)assess the gestational age of pregnancy and inform the woman of gestational age-specific risks;
(c)diagnose ectopic pregnancy;
(d)determine blood type and administer RhoGAM if a woman is Rh negative;
(e)assess for signs of domestic abuse, reproductive control, human trafficking, and other signals of coerced abortion;
(f)provide surgical intervention or who has entered into a contract with another qualified medical practitioner to provide surgical intervention; and
(g)supervise and bear legal responsibility for any agent, employee, or contractor who is participating in any part of a procedure, including but not limited to preprocedure evaluation and care. See Montana Code 50-20-703
- Unborn child: means an individual organism of the species homo sapiens, beginning at fertilization, until the point of being born alive as defined in 1 U. See Montana Code 50-20-703
(a)independently verify that a pregnancy exists;
(b)determine the woman’s blood type, and if the woman is Rh negative, be able to and offer to administer RhoGAM at the time of the abortion;
(c)inform the woman that the woman may see the remains of the unborn child in the process of completing the abortion; and
(d)document in the woman’s medical chart the gestational age and intrauterine location of the pregnancy and whether the woman received treatment for Rh negativity, as diagnosed by the most accurate standard of medical care.
(2)A qualified medical practitioner providing an abortion-inducing drug must be credentialed and competent to handle complications management, including emergency transfer, or must have a signed contract with an associated medical practitioner who is credentialed to handle complications and must be able to produce the signed contract on demand by the woman or by the department. Each woman to whom a qualified medical practitioner provides an abortion-inducing drug must be given the name and phone number of the associated medical practitioner.
(3)The qualified medical practitioner providing an abortion-inducing drug, or an agent of the qualified medical practitioner, shall schedule a followup visit for the woman at approximately 7 to 14 days after administration of the abortion-inducing drug to confirm that the pregnancy is completely terminated and to assess the degree of bleeding. The qualified medical practitioner shall make all reasonable efforts to ensure that the woman returns for the scheduled appointment. A brief description of the efforts made to comply with this subsection, including the date, time, and identification by name of the person making the efforts, must be included in the woman’s medical record.