Montana Code 50-20-707. Informed consent requirements for abortion-inducing drugs
50-20-707. Informed consent requirements for abortion-inducing drugs. (1) An abortion-inducing drug may not be provided without the informed consent of the pregnant woman to whom the abortion-inducing drug is being provided.
Terms Used In Montana Code 50-20-707
- 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
- 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
- Informed consent: means voluntary consent to an abortion by the woman upon whom the abortion is to be performed only after full disclosure to the woman by:
(a)the physician who is to perform the abortion of the following information:
(i)the particular medical risks associated with the particular abortion procedure to be employed, including, when medically accurate, the risks of infection, hemorrhage, breast cancer, danger to subsequent pregnancies, and infertility;
(ii)the probable gestational age of the unborn child at the time the abortion is to be performed; and
(iii)the medical risks of carrying the child to term;
(b)the physician or an agent of the physician:
(i)that medical assistance benefits may be available for prenatal care, childbirth, and neonatal care;
(ii)that the father is liable to assist in the support of the child, even in instances in which the father has offered to pay for the abortion; and
(iii)that the woman has the right to review the printed materials described in 50-20-304; and
(c)the physician or the agent that the printed materials described in 50-20-304 have been provided by the department and that the materials describe the unborn child and list agencies that offer alternatives to abortion. See Montana Code 50-20-104
- Medical practitioner: means a person authorized under 50-20-109 to perform an abortion in this state. See Montana Code 50-20-703
- 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
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- 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
(2)Informed consent to a chemical abortion must be obtained at least 24 hours before the abortion-inducing drug is provided to the pregnant woman except when, in reasonable medical judgment, compliance with this subsection would pose a greater risk of:
(a)the death of the pregnant woman; or
(b)the substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function, not including psychological or emotional conditions, of the pregnant woman.
(3)A form created by the department must be used by a qualified medical practitioner to obtain the consent required prior to providing an abortion-inducing drug.
(4)A consent form is not valid and consent is not sufficient unless:
(a)the woman initials each entry, list, description, or declaration required to be included in the consent form as provided in subsection (5);
(b)the woman signs the consent statement described in subsection (5)(j); and
(c)the qualified medical practitioner signs the qualified medical practitioner declaration described in subsection (5)(k).
(5)The consent form must include, but is not limited to the following:
(a)the probable gestational age of the unborn child as determined by both patient history and ultrasound results used to confirm gestational age;
(b)a detailed description of the steps to complete the chemical abortion;
(c)a detailed list of the risks related to the specific abortion-inducing drug or drugs to be used, including but not limited to hemorrhage, failure to remove all tissue of the unborn child, which may require an additional procedure, sepsis, sterility, and possible continuation of pregnancy;
(d)information about Rh incompatibility, including that if the pregnant woman has an Rh negative blood type, the woman should receive an injection of Rh immunoglobulin at the time of the abortion to prevent Rh incompatibility in future pregnancies, which can lead to complications and miscarriage in future pregnancies;
(e)a description of the risks of complications from a chemical abortion, including incomplete abortion, which increase with advancing gestational age;
(f)information about the possibility of reversing the effects of the chemical abortion if the pregnant woman changes the woman’s mind and that time is of the essence;
(g)information that the pregnant woman could see the remains of the unborn child in the process of completing the abortion;
(h)information that initial studies suggest that children born after reversing the effects of an abortion-inducing drug have no greater risk of birth defects than the general population and that initial studies suggest that there is no increased risk of maternal mortality after reversing the effects of an abortion-inducing drug;
(i)notice that information on and assistance with reversing the effects of abortion-inducing drugs are available in the state-prepared materials;
(j)an acknowledgment of risks and consent statement, which must be signed by the woman. The statement must include but is not limited to the following declarations, which must be individually initialed by the woman, that:
(i)the woman understands that the abortion-inducing drug regimen or procedure is intended to end the woman’s pregnancy and will result in the death of the unborn child;
(ii)the woman is not being forced to have an abortion, the woman has the choice not to have the abortion, and the woman may withdraw the woman’s consent to the abortion-inducing drug regimen even after beginning the abortion-inducing drug regimen;
(iii)the woman understands that the chemical abortion regimen or procedure to be used has specific risks and may result in specific complications;
(iv)the woman has been given the opportunity to ask questions about the woman’s pregnancy, the development of the unborn child, alternatives to abortion, the abortion-inducing drug or drugs to be used, and the risks and complications inherent to the abortion-inducing drug or drugs to be used;
(v)the woman was specifically told that “information on the potential ability of qualified medical professionals to reverse the effects of an abortion obtained through the use of abortion-inducing drugs is available at www.abortionpillreversal.com, or you can contact (877) 558-0333 for assistance in locating a medical professional who can aid in the reversal of an abortion”;
(vi)the woman has been provided access to state-prepared, printed materials on informed consent for abortion;
(vii)if applicable, the woman has been given the name and phone number of the associated medical practitioner who has agreed to provide medical care and treatment in the event of complications associated with the abortion-inducing drug regimen or procedure;
(viii)the qualified medical practitioner will schedule an in-person follow-up visit for the woman approximately 7 to 14 days after providing the abortion-inducing drug or drugs to confirm that the pregnancy is completely terminated and to assess the degree of bleeding and other complications;
(ix)the woman has received or been given sufficient information to give the woman’s informed consent to the abortion-inducing drug regimen or procedure; and
(x)the woman has a private right of action to sue the qualified medical practitioner under the laws of the state if the woman feels coerced or misled prior to obtaining an abortion and how to access state resources regarding the woman’s legal right to obtain relief.
(k)a qualified medical practitioner declaration that must be signed by the qualified medical practitioner stating that the qualified medical practitioner has explained the abortion-inducing drug or drugs to be used, has provided all of the information required in this subsection (5), and has answered all of the woman’s questions.