Missouri § 188.047 - Tissue submitted for examination — pathologist to file report, copies furnished — department to reconcile notice of abortion to tissue report — annual report required, contents — rulemaking authority.

§ 188.047. Tissue submitted for examination — pathologist to file report, copies furnished — department to reconcile notice of abortion to tissue report — annual report required, contents — rulemaking authority.

1.  All tissue, except that tissue needed for purposes described in subsection 5 of this section, removed at the time of abortion shall be submitted within five days to a board-eligible or certified pathologist for gross and histopathological examination.  The pathologist shall file a copy of the tissue report with the state department of health and senior services, and shall provide within seventy-two hours a copy of the report to the abortion facility or hospital in which the abortion was performed or induced.  The pathologist's report shall be made a part of the patient's permanent record.  If the pathological examination fails to identify evidence of a completed abortion, the pathologist shall notify the abortion facility or hospital within twenty-four hours.

2.  The department shall reconcile each notice of abortion with its corresponding tissue report.  If the department does not receive the notice of abortion or the tissue report, the department shall make an inquiry of the abortion facility or hospital.  After such inquiry, if the hospital or abortion facility has not satisfactorily responded to said inquiry and the department finds that the abortion facility or hospital where the abortion was performed or induced was not in compliance with the provisions of this section, the department shall consider such noncompliance a deficiency requiring an unscheduled inspection of the facility to ensure the deficiency is remedied, subject to the provisions of chapter 197 regarding license suspensions, reviews, and appeals.

3.  Beginning January 1, 2018, the department shall make an annual report to the general assembly.  The report shall include the number of any deficiencies and inquiries by the department of each abortion facility in the calendar year and whether any deficiencies were remedied and, for each abortion facility, aggregated de-identified data about the total number of abortions performed at the facility, the termination procedures used, the number and type of complications reported for each type of termination procedure, whether the department received the tissue report for each abortion, and the existence and nature, if any, of any inconsistencies or concerns between the abortion reports submitted under section 188.052 and the tissue report submitted under this section.  The report shall not contain any personal patient information the disclosure of which is prohibited by state or federal law.

4.  All reports provided by the department to the general assembly under this section shall maintain confidentiality of all personal information of patients, facility personnel, and facility physicians.

5.  Nothing in this section shall prohibit the utilization of fetal organs or tissue resulting from an abortion for medical or scientific purposes to determine the cause or causes of any anomaly, illness, death, or genetic condition of the fetus, the paternity of the fetus, or for law enforcement purposes.

6.  The department may adopt rules, regulations, and standards governing the reports required under this section.  In doing so, the department shall ensure that these reports contain all information necessary to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.  Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 536.028.  This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536 to review, to delay the effective date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after October 24, 2017, shall be invalid and void.

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(L. 1979 H.B. 523, et al., A.L. 2017 2d Ex. Sess. S.B. 5)

Effective 10-24-17

(1983) Statute requiring pathology reports following all abortions is constitutional because it is reasonably related to important health-related state concerns. Planned Parenthood of Kansas City, Mo. v. Ashcroft, 103 S.Ct. 2517.

---- end of effective  24 Oct 2017 ----

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