Alaska providers would face abortion ban after detecting fetal heart activity

Providers would have to test for fetal heart activity before knowingly performing or inducing an abortion. They could not proceed if they detect that activity or skip the required test. The restriction would cover abortions in Alaska. The bill defines fetal heartbeat as cardiac activity or steady, repeated contractions of the fetal heart. These requirements would not apply when a provider believes a medical emergency prevents compliance. The provider would have to document that belief and the patient's condition. They would not apply to abortions carried out at the request of federal agencies, contractors, or employees doing federal duties when federal law protects the abortion from state restrictions. If enacted, the bill would take effect immediately.

Private people could sue someone who performs an abortion that violates the article's rules, knowingly helps one happen, or intends to do either. Private lawsuits would be the only way to enforce the heartbeat testing requirement and ban. Government officials could not enforce those two provisions. Helping would include paying through insurance or otherwise. Helpers would not need to know the abortion violated the rules. Reasonable belief in compliance after a reasonable investigation could provide a defense. Successful claims would bring orders to stop violations, at least $10,000 per abortion, and legal costs. A defendant who already paid the full required damages for the same abortion or assistance could avoid another award of those damages and legal costs. Patients could not be sued. Exceptions would protect certain federally protected abortions and transportation carriers unaware of the patient's abortion plans. Someone who caused the pregnancy through rape, sexual assault, sexual abuse of a minor, or incest could not sue. A lawsuit would have to begin within six years after the claim arises.

Providers would have to arrange an ultrasound, display its images, explain the results, and make any fetal heartbeat audible. Patients could choose whether to view the images. A provider or nationally certified ultrasound technician would perform the scan for the patient seeking an abortion. Patients living at least 100 miles from the nearest state-licensed abortion facility or facility performing more than 50 abortions in any 12-month period could shorten the wait to at least two hours. Patients would have to sign an election form before the ultrasound, abortion, or sedation. Providers would need a copy before performing the abortion. The consent provisions would require a provider's written certification, a copy of state information, and explanations of risks. Those consent requirements would not apply to medical emergencies or pregnancies resulting from sexual assault, sexual abuse of a minor, or incest. The ultrasound section states no matching exception. The ultrasound would have to occur before sedation or anesthesia and at least 24 hours before the abortion, or at least two hours before it with an eligible waiver.

Providers would have to document the reason for each abortion and report abortions performed at abortion facilities to the Alaska Department of Health. Reports would cover patient background, the procedure, and any medical emergency. Providers would not need to report for months when they performed no abortions. For emergency abortions, providers would document the medical condition and why the abortion was necessary. For other abortions, they would sign a document stating that the patient's health was not a purpose. Reports could not identify patients or contain information that could identify them. Department records would generally be confidential, with exceptions for consent, anonymous statistics, and specified enforcement uses. Violating the report-content or confidentiality rules would be a Class A misdemeanor, a criminal offense. Monthly reports would be due by the 15th day of each month.

State courts would be barred from considering lawsuits seeking orders to block enforcement of the heartbeat article or prevent private lawsuits under it. The bill would direct courts not to read Alaska's constitutional privacy protection as protecting abortion rights or requiring state abortion funding. It would also shield government bodies and officials from challenges to the heartbeat article, except where federal law overrides that protection. People sued could still challenge the rules' validity and assert their own constitutional rights as defenses. If each chamber approves the related court-rule provision by a two-thirds vote, people seeking court orders against abortion restrictions or abortion funding limits, and their lawyers, would owe winning opponents' legal costs. Dismissal for any reason would count as a win. Denying legal-cost awards to defendants in private enforcement suits would require the same two-thirds approval. Requiring everyone's written consent to move those suits to another court district would need separate two-thirds approval in each chamber. A separate lawsuit for challengers' legal costs would have to begin within three years after the decision becomes final through appeal or the deadline to appeal expires.