(a) 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, a qualified physician providing an abortion-inducing drug shall examine the patient in person and, prior to providing an abortion-inducing drug:

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 63-6-1104

  • Associated physician: means an individual licensed, and in good standing, to practice medicine in this state pursuant to chapter 6 or 9 of this title and who has entered into an associated physician agreement pursuant to §. See Tennessee Code 63-6-1102
  • Complication: means an adverse physical or psychological condition arising from the performance of an abortion, including, but not limited to, uterine perforation. See Tennessee Code 63-6-1102
  • Department: means the department of health. See Tennessee Code 63-6-1102
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Physician: means an individual licensed, and in good standing, to practice medicine in this state pursuant to chapter 6 or 9 of this title. See Tennessee Code 63-6-1102
  • pregnancy: means the female reproductive condition of having an unborn child in the patient's uterus. See Tennessee Code 63-6-1102
  • Provide: means an act of giving, selling, dispensing, administering, transferring possession to, or otherwise providing or prescribing, an abortion-inducing drug. See Tennessee Code 63-6-1102
  • Qualified physician: means a physician who has the ability to:
    (A) Identify and document a viable intrauterine pregnancy. See Tennessee Code 63-6-1102
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • 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 Tennessee Code 63-6-1102
(1) Independently verify that a pregnancy exists;
(2) Determine the patient’s blood type, and, if the patient is Rh negative, offer to administer RhoGAM at the time of the abortion;
(3) Inform the patient that the patient may see the remains of the unborn child in the process of completing the abortion; and
(4) Document, in the patient’s medical chart, the gestational age and intrauterine location of the pregnancy, and whether the patient received treatment for Rh negativity, as diagnosed by the most accurate standard of medical care.
(b) A qualified physician providing an abortion-inducing drug must be credentialed and competent to handle complication management, including emergency transfer, or must have a signed agreement with an associated physician who is credentialed to handle complications and be able to produce the signed agreement on demand by the patient or the department. The qualified physician providing an abortion-inducing drug to a patient shall provide the patient with the name and phone number of the associated physician.
(c) A qualified physician providing an abortion-inducing drug, or an agent of the qualified physician, shall schedule a follow-up visit for the patient at approximately seven (7) to fourteen (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 physician shall make all reasonable efforts to ensure that the patient returns for the scheduled appointment. A brief description of the efforts made to comply with this subsection (c), including the date, time, and identification by name of the individual making the efforts, must be included in the patient’s medical record.
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