50-20-304. Publication of materials. (1) The department shall publish and annually update easily comprehensible printed, unbiased materials that are geographically indexed and designed to inform women of public and private agencies and services available to assist a woman through pregnancy, during childbirth, and while a woman's child is dependent. The materials must:

(a) include adoption agencies;

(b) include a comprehensive list of the agencies, a description of the services offered, and the telephone numbers and addresses of the agencies;

(c) inform a woman about medical assistance benefits for prenatal care, childbirth, neonatal care, and child support obligations of a father of a child.

(2) The department shall ensure that the materials described in this section are comprehensive and do not directly or indirectly promote, exclude, or discourage the use of any agency or service. The materials must include a toll-free, 24-hour telephone number that may be called to orally obtain a list and description of agencies in the locality of the caller and of the services offered by the agencies.

(3) The materials must state that:

(a) it is unlawful for any individual to coerce a woman to undergo or not to undergo an abortion;

(b) a physician who performs an abortion on a woman without the woman's informed consent may be liable to the woman for damages in a civil action; and

(c) the law allows adoptive parents to pay the costs of prenatal care, childbirth, and neonatal care.

(4) The materials must inform the pregnant woman of the probable anatomical and physiological characteristics of the unborn child at 2-week gestational increments from fertilization to full term, including pictures or drawings representing the development of unborn children at 2-week gestational increments. The pictures or drawings must contain the dimensions of the unborn child and must be realistic. The materials must include any relevant information on the possibility of the unborn child's survival at each stage depicted. The materials must be objective, nonjudgmental, and designed to convey only accurate scientific information about the unborn child at the various gestational ages. The materials must contain objective information describing the methods of abortion procedures commonly employed, the medical risks commonly associated with each procedure, the possible detrimental psychological effects of abortion, the possible detrimental psychological effects of adoption, and the medical risks associated with carrying a child to term.

(5) The materials must be printed in a clearly legible typeface.

(6) The materials required to be produced under this section must be provided at no cost upon request and must be provided in appropriate quantities to any person, facility, or hospital.

History: En. Sec. 4, Ch. 566, L. 1995.