65-6018. HIV screening for pregnant women and newborn children; rules and regulations. (a) A physician or other health care professional who is otherwise authorized by law to provide medical treatment to a pregnant woman shall take or cause to be taken, during the first trimester of pregnancy, a routine opt-out screening for HIV infection. When the physician or other health care professional determines certain pregnant women to be at high risk for acquiring HIV infection, such women shall be administered a repeat screening during the third trimester or at the time of labor and delivery. When a pregnant woman's HIV status is unknown for any reason at the time of labor and delivery, such woman shall be screened for HIV infection as soon as possible within medical standards. When an HIV rapid test kit is used for screening, a confirmatory sample shall be submitted for serological testing which meets the standards recognized by the United States public health service for the detection of HIV to a laboratory approved by the secretary of health and environment for such serological tests. A pregnant woman shall have the right to refuse screening under this subsection at any time. Before any screening is performed under this subsection, the pregnant woman shall be informed in writing of the provisions of this subsection and the purposes and benefits of the screening, and the pregnant woman shall sign a form provided by the department of health and environment to authorize or opt-out of the screening. The form shall contain the following wording: "I test all of my pregnant patients for HIV as part of the panel of routine tests to alert me to any conditions that can have a very serious effect on your pregnancy and your baby. You will be tested for HIV unless you tell me not to."

(b) When the mother's HIV status is unknown because of refusal to take such screening during the pregnancy or any other reasons, such mother's newborn child shall be screened with an HIV test as soon as possible within medical standards to determine if prophylaxis is needed. A mother's or a guardian's consent is not required to screen such newborn child, except that this subsection shall not apply to any newborn child whose parents object to the test as being in conflict with their religious tenets and practices. Documentation of a mother's HIV status shall be recorded in both the mother's and newborn's medical records. The mother of the child shall be informed in writing of the provisions of this subsection and of the purposes and benefits of the screening and shall sign a form stating that the mother has received the information.

(c) The secretary of health and environment is hereby authorized to adopt rules and regulations, within six months from the effective date of this section, establishing guidelines for routine HIV infection screening for pregnant women and each newborn child where the HIV status of the mother is unknown at the time of birth. These rules and regulations shall be based on the recommendations and best practices established by the United States centers for disease control and prevention and public health service task force recommendations for use of antiretroviral drugs in pregnant HIV infected women for maternal health and interventions to reduce perinatal HIV transmission in the United States.

(d) As used in this section, physician, HIV and HIV infection have the meanings defined in K.S.A. 65-6001, and amendment thereto.

(e) This section shall be effective on and after July 1, 2010.

History: L. 2010, ch. 118, § 1; Apr. 29.