H. B. 4495
(By Delegate Hamilton)
[Introduced February 10, 2006; referred to the
Committee on Health and Human Resources then the
Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §33-42-9, relating to
recovery rooms where abortions are performed; setting forth
certain requirements; providing for the closure of facilities
which violate the requirements; and prescribing criminal
penalties for violations.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §33-42-9, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 42. WOMEN'S ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE ACT.
§33-42-9. Standards for abortion recovery rooms.
Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, every recovery room for any patient recovering from an abortion
procedure shall have a minimum of six air changes per hour and all
air supplied to the recovery room and any room in which the
procedure is performed shall be delivered at or near the ceiling
and must pass through a minimum of one filter bed with a minimum
filter efficiency of eighty percent.
Any person who violates the requirements of this section is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not less than one thousand dollars. In addition, the
facility in violation of these requirements shall be closed for a
period of not less than one year.
Nothing contained in this section may be construed or
interpreted to endorse, allow, permit or approve of any abortion.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
require recovery rooms
where abortion procedures are performed to meet certain ventilation
requirements. The bill also prescribes a criminal fine for
violations of the section.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.