HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 218        FILED ON: 1/8/2013

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1597

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Tom Sannicandro and David Paul Linsky

_________________

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to responsible counseling.

_______________

PETITION OF:

 

Name:

District/Address:

Date Added:

Tom Sannicandro

7th Middlesex

1/8/2013

David Paul Linsky

5th Middlesex

1/9/2013

Carlo Basile

1st Suffolk

1/8/2013

Frank I. Smizik

15th Norfolk

1/8/2013

Louis L. Kafka

8th Norfolk

1/8/2013

John W. Scibak

2nd Hampshire

1/8/2013

Danielle W. Gregoire

4th Middlesex

1/8/2013

Martha M. Walz

8th Suffolk

1/8/2013

Peter V. Kocot

1st Hampshire

1/8/2013

Lori A. Ehrlich

8th Essex

1/8/2013

Ruth B. Balser

12th Middlesex

1/8/2013

Sarah K. Peake

4th Barnstable

1/8/2013

Kay Khan

11th Middlesex

1/8/2013

Katherine M. Clark

Fifth Middlesex

1/8/2013

Chris Walsh

6th Middlesex

1/8/2013

Paul Brodeur

32nd Middlesex

1/8/2013

Carl M. Sciortino, Jr.

34th Middlesex

1/8/2013

Mary S. Keefe

15th Worcester

1/8/2013

Elizabeth A. Malia

11th Suffolk

1/8/2013

Jonathan Hecht

29th Middlesex

1/8/2013

Ellen Story

3rd Hampshire

1/8/2013

Jay R. Kaufman

15th Middlesex

1/8/2013

Brian R. Mannal

2nd Barnstable

1/8/2013

Thomas P. Conroy

13th Middlesex

1/8/2013

Denise Provost

27th Middlesex

1/8/2013

Denise Andrews

2nd Franklin

1/8/2013

David M. Rogers

24th Middlesex

1/8/2013

Aaron Vega

5th Hampden

1/8/2013

Cory Atkins

14th Middlesex

1/8/2013

Kenneth I. Gordon

21st Middlesex

1/8/2013

Carolyn C. Dykema

8th Middlesex

1/8/2013

Jason M. Lewis

Fifth Middlesex

1/8/2013

Carlos Henriquez

5th Suffolk

1/8/2013

Alice Hanlon Peisch

14th Norfolk

1/8/2013

Theodore C. Speliotis

13th Essex

1/8/2013

Paul McMurtry

11th Norfolk

1/8/2013


HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 218        FILED ON: 1/8/2013

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1597

By Messrs. Sannicandro of Ashland and Linsky of Natick, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1597) of Tom Sannicandro, David Paul Linsky and others relative to written consent of a parent or legal guardian and counseling of minor pregnant women seeking aboritions.  The Judiciary.

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

_______________

In the Year Two Thousand Thirteen

_______________

 

An Act relative to responsible counseling.

 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

The second paragraph of section 12S of chapter 112 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth sentences and inserting in place thereof the following language:— 

If a pregnant woman is less than eighteen years of age and has not married, no physician may perform an abortion upon her unless the attending physician has received and made part of the medical record the written consent of the pregnant woman and: 

(1)the written consent of a parent, a legal guardian, a foster parent, or an adult family member twenty-five years of age or older; or   

(2)the authorization of a judge of the superior court department of the trial court; or   

(3)the written certification by an authorized individual that he has counseled the pregnant woman regarding alternative choices available to manage the pregnancy and the option of involving the woman's parents, guardians, or other adult family members in her decision-making. 

An authorized individual shall be either a medical professional registered under section two, nine F, seventy-four, or seventy-four A of this chapter, or a mental health professional licensed under section one hundred nineteen or one hundred thirty-one of this chapter.  The commissioner of public health shall prescribe a form for the authorized individual to use in certifying that he has provided counseling in accordance with this section.  A family member shall be one of the pregnant woman’s grandparents or their lineal descendants, including those by adoption, and spouses of any such persons.