Colorado § 13-22-704 - Notification concerning abortion.

§ 13-22-704. Notification concerning abortion.

(1) No abortion shall be performed upon an unemancipated minor until at least 48 hours after written notice of the pending abortion has been delivered in the following manner:

(a) The notice shall be addressed to the parent at the dwelling house or usual place of abode of the parent. Such notice shall be delivered to the parent by:

(I) The attending physician or member of the physician's immediate staff who is over the age of eighteen; or

(II) The sheriff of the county where the service of notice is made, or by his deputy; or

(III) Any other person over the age of eighteen years who is not related to the minor; or

(IV) A clergy member who is over the age of eighteen.

(b) Notice delivered by any person other than the attending physician shall be furnished to and delivered by such person in a sealed envelope marked "Personal and Confidential", and its content shall not in any manner be revealed to the person making such delivery.

(c) Whenever the parent of the minor includes two persons to be notified as provided in this part 7 and such persons reside at the same dwelling house or place of abode, delivery to one such person shall constitute delivery to both, and the 48-hour period shall commence when delivery is made. Should such persons not reside together and delivery of notice can be made to each of them, notice shall be delivered to both parents, unless the minor shall request that only one parent be notified, which request shall be honored and shall be noted by the physician in the minor's medical record. Whenever the parties are separately served with notice, the 48-hour period shall commence upon delivery of the first notice.

(d) The person delivering such notice, if other than the physician, shall provide to the physician a written return of service at the earliest practical time, as follows:

(I) If served by the sheriff or his deputy, by his certificate with a statement as to date, place, and manner of service and the time such delivery was made.

(II) If by any other person, by his affidavit thereof with the same statement.

(III) Return of service shall be maintained by the physician.

(e) (I) In lieu of personal delivery of the notice, the same may be sent by postpaid certified mail, addressed to the parent at the usual place of abode of the parent, with return receipt requested and delivery restricted to the addressee. Delivery shall be conclusively presumed to occur, and the 48-hour time period as provided in this part 7 shall commence to run at 12:00 o'clock noon on the next day on which regular mail delivery takes place.

(II) Whenever the parent of the minor includes two persons to be notified as provided in this part 7 and such persons reside at the same dwelling house or place of abode, notice addressed to one parent and mailed as provided in the foregoing subparagraph shall be deemed to be delivery of notice to both such persons. Should such persons not reside together and notice can be mailed to each of them, such notice shall be separately mailed to both parents unless the minor shall request that only one parent shall be notified, which request shall be honored and shall be noted by the physician in the minor's medical record.

(III) Proof of mailing and the delivery or attempted delivery shall be maintained by the physician.

(2) (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, if the minor is residing with a relative of the minor and not a parent, the written notice of the pending abortion shall be provided to either the relative of the minor or a parent.

(b) If a minor elects to provide notice to a person specified in subsection (2)(a) of this section, the notice shall be provided in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1) of this section.

(3) At the time the physician, licensed health-care professional, or staff of the physician or licensed health-care professional informs the minor that notice must be provided to the minor's parents prior to performing an abortion, the physician, licensed health-care professional, or the staff of the physician or licensed health-care professional must inform the minor under what circumstances the minor has the right to have only one parent notified.

Source: L. 2018: Entire part added with relocations, (SB 18-032), ch. 8, p. 146, § 1, effective October 1.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 12-37.5-104 as it existed prior to 2018.

ANNOTATION

Annotator's note. The following annotations include cases decided under former provisions similar to this section.

The provisions of the Parental Notification Act supersede § 19-1-104 (3) of the Children's Code with regard to the provision of notice to parents about abortions. Planned Parenthood of Rocky Mtns. Servs. Corp. v. Owens, 287 F.3d 910 (10th Cir. 2002).

As a result, the Parental Notification Act must be held unconstitutional because it lacks a health exception to the parental notification requirement. Planned Parenthood of Rocky Mtns. Servs. Corp. v. Owens, 287 F.3d 910 (10th Cir. 2002).

Applied in In re Doe, 166 P.3d 293 (Colo. App. 2007).