HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 487        FILED ON: 1/13/2017

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 926

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Elizabeth A. Poirier

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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 banning partial birth abortions.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 487        FILED ON: 1/13/2017

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 926

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 1538 OF 2015-2016.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninetieth General Court
(2017-2018)

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An Act banning partial birth abortions.

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

SECTION 1. Section 12K of Chapter 112 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding at the end, the following paragraph:─

“Partially born,” the delivery of a living unborn fetus’ body, with the entire head attached, so that any of the following has occurred:

(a) The living intact fetus’s entire head, in the case of a cephalic presentation, of any portion of the living intact fetus’s torso above the navel, in the case of a breech presentation, is delivered past the mother’s vaginal opening; or

(b) The living intact fetus’s entire head, in the case of a cephalic presentation, or any portion of the living intact fetus’s torso above the navel, in the case of a breech presentation, is delivered outside the mother’s external abdominal wall.

“Sharp curettage abortion” or “suction curettage abortion,” means an abortion in which the developing child and the products of conception are evacuated from the uterus with a sharp curettage or through a suction cannula with an attached vacuum apparatus.

SECTION 2. Chapter 112 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after section 12M the following new section:─

Section 12M1/2.  Any person who intentionally causes the death of a living intact fetus while that living intact fetus is partially born, shall be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars nor more than two thousand dollars, or by imprisonment of not less than three months nor more than five years, or by both said fine and imprisonment.  Conduct which violates this section which also violates any other criminal laws of the Commonwealth, may be punished either under this section or other applicable criminal laws.  The mother of the living intact fetus may not be prosecuted for a violation of this section or for conspiracy to violate this Act.

This section does not apply to a sharp curettage or suction curettage abortion.  This section does not prohibit a physician from taking measures that in the physician’s medical judgment are necessary to save the life of the mother whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, illness, or injury, if:

(a) Every reasonable precaution is also taken, in this case, to save the child’s life; and

(b) The physician first certifies in writing, setting forth in detail the fact upon which the physician relied in making this judgment.  The certification may be completed afterwards only in the case of an emergency which threatens the life of the mother.

SECTION 3. If any provisions of this act or its application to any person or circumstance are held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstance is not affected.