(a) The District shall recognize the right of every individual to choose or refuse contraception or sterilization.
(b) The District shall recognize the right of every individual who becomes pregnant to decide whether to carry a pregnancy to term, to give birth, or to have an abortion.
(c) The District shall not:
(1) Deny, interfere with, or restrict, in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information, the right of an individual, including an individual under District control or supervision, to:
(A) Choose or refuse contraception or sterilization; or
(B) Choose or refuse to carry a pregnancy to term, to give birth, or to have an abortion;
(2) Interfere with or restrict in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information, the decision of a health care practitioner acting within the scope of the health care practitioner's license to participate in a consenting individual's prenatal care, labor, delivery, or abortion; or
(3) Penalize an individual for:
(A) Seeking, inducing, or attempting to induce, the individual's own abortion; or
(B) Any act or omission during the individual's pregnancy based on the potential or actual impact on the individual's health or pregnancy.
(d) For the purposes of this section, the term "health care practitioner" means an individual, groups of individuals, partnership, or corporation, including a health care facility, that is licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized by law to provide professional health care services in the District to an individual.
(Dec. 13, 1977, D.C. Law 2-38, title I, § 105a [106]; as added May 6, 2020, D.C. Law 23-90, § 2(a)(3), 67 DCR 3537.)
ApplicabilitySection 7077 of D.C. Law 23-149 repealed section 3 of D.C. Law 23-90 removing the applicability provision impacting this section. Therefore, the creation of this section by Law 23-90 has been implemented.
Applicability of D.C. Law 23-90: § 3 of D.C. Law 23-90 provided that the creation of this section by § 2(a)(3) of D.C. Law 23-90 is subject to the inclusion of the law’s fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan. Therefore that amendment has not been implemented.