TITLE 31 HEALTH

9B. Physician's Obligation in Performance of Abortions, 31-9B-1 through 31-9B-3.

ARTICLE 10 DRUG REPOSITORY PROGRAM

31-9B-3. Required reporting of physicians and departments; confidentiality; failure to comply.

1. Any physician who performs or attempts to perform an abortion shall report to the department, in conjunction with the reports required under Code Section 31-9A-6 and in accordance with forms and rules and regulations adopted and promulgated by the department:
   1. If a determination of probable gestational age was made, the probable gestational age determined and the method and basis of the determination;
   2. If a determination of probable gestational age was not made, the basis of the determination that a medical emergency existed or that a pregnancy was diagnosed as medically futile;
   3. If the probable gestational age was determined to be 20 or more weeks, the basis of the determination that the pregnant woman had a medically futile pregnancy or had a condition which so complicated her medical condition as to necessitate the termination of her pregnancy to avert her death or to avert serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function, or the basis of the determination that it was necessary to preserve the life of an unborn child; and
   4. The method used for the abortion and, in the case of an abortion performed when the probable gestational age was determined to be 20 or more weeks, whether the method of abortion used was one that, in reasonable medical judgment, provided the best opportunity for the unborn child to survive or, if such a method was not used, the basis of the determination that the pregnancy was medically futile or that termination of the pregnancy in that manner would pose a greater risk either of the death of the pregnant woman or of the substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman than would other available methods.
2. By June 30 of each year, the department shall issue a public report providing statistics for the previous calendar year compiled from all of the reports covering that year submitted in accordance with this Code section for each of the items listed in subsection (a) of this Code section. Each such report shall also provide the statistics for all previous calendar years during which this Code section was in effect, adjusted to reflect any additional information from late or corrected reports. The department shall take care to ensure that none of the information included in the public reports could reasonably lead to the identification of any pregnant woman upon whom an abortion was performed.
3. The department shall ensure that the names and identities of the physicians filing reports under this chapter shall remain confidential. The names and identities of such physicians shall not be subject to Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 50.
4. Any physician who fails to submit a report by the end of the grace period of 30 days following the due date shall be subject to sanctions as specified in subsection (e) of Code Section 31-9A-6.
5. The department shall adopt such rules and regulations as are reasonable and necessary to implement the provisions of this Code section.

(Code 1981, §31-9B-3, enacted by Ga. L. 2012, p. 575, § 3/HB 954.)