LifeLink: Abortion Reporting

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August 2006

The Alan Guttmacher Institute (the research arm of Planned Parenthood) estimates that about half of all abortions are not reported, which means that abortion complications and judicial bypasses for minors are also underreported.  In order to establish effective and relevant regulatory policy regarding abortion, lawmakers and public health officials must know the state of abortion in Texas and across the country.  Such reporting requirements and regulations will also protect women’s health by establishing a reporting procedure for abortion-related complications, which are currently often reported as “pregnancy complications”. 

Reporting requirements will also assess the effectiveness of parental notification by requiring the reporting of the judicial bypass court proceedings and parental notice.  Judicial bypass is currently the only secret court proceeding in Texas.  (Although maintaining the anonymity of the minor should always be a priority, there is no need to conceal the data regarding frequency by county and outcomes of each proceeding.)  In Texas, the data would be collected by the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) when legislation is passed to mandate its collection and publication. 

Texas Right to Life introduced the Abortion Reporting Requirement Act in the 79th legislative session and will pursue it in the 80th legislative session.  Following is an overview of what the bill requires:

• Every abortion provider (both licensed and unlicensed) must submit to DSHS a standardized Abortion Reporting Form (distributed by DSHS) for each abortion induced. 
• All physicians who treat abortion-related complications must submit an Induced Abortion Complication Report to DSHS no more than 7 days after treating the complication.  (This is to ensure that abortion complications are not reported as pregnancy complications—which erroneously inflates the data showing the risk of pregnancy as compared to the risk of abortion.)
• A copy of the Abortion Reporting Form and/or the Induced Abortion Reporting Form must be given to the woman and a copy of the form must be maintained in the patient’s file for no less than 7 years. 
• Annual public reports must be issued by DSHS detailing information compiled from all Abortion Reporting Forms and Induced Abortion Complication Reports. 
• The clerk of each court must report the number of judicial bypass applications filed, the number granted, the number denied, and the number of appeals made, granted, or denied (while preserving the anonymity of minors).
• The clerk of each court must report the number of judicial bypass cases in which the court appointed a guardian ad litem and/or counsel and ensure that the same individual does not serve as both the guardian ad litem and counsel. 
• Abortion providers must maintain the original certificate featuring the court’s seal granting the bypass in the patient’s file. 

Are reporting requirements constitutional?

Yes.  The Supreme Court ruled in both Planned Parenthood v. Casey and Planned Parenthood v. Danforth that the reporting of abortions is constitutional, because (1) reporting requirements do not limit access to abortion and do not impose a substantial obstacle to a woman’s choice, (2) recordkeeping and reporting can serve to protect maternal health, and (3) the collection of information in respect to actual patients is a vital element of medical research.

What other states require the reporting of induced abortions?

In 35 states and New York City, induced abortion reporting is required by statute.  Approximately half of these states specify that the Department of Health prescribe and provide the reporting form.  Additionally, nine states require that a “reason for the abortion” be reported, and 27 states include abortion-related complication reporting.  (This "reason for" helps protect against coerced abortion.)

 “If accurate abortion data are as necessary to policymaking as recent debate suggests, steps need to be taken to bolster existing systems.  Doing so first requires further research into the limitations of the current systems and data, and a significant will to improve state-level data collection and management.” 

--The Alan Guttmacher Institute