Required Reporting of Physicians and Departments; Confidentiality; Failure to Comply

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Health
  4. Physician's Obligation in Performance of Abortions
  5. Required Reporting of Physicians and Departments; Confidentiality; Failure to Comply

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  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 detectable human heartbeat, as such term is defined in Code Section 1-2-1, exists, the probable gestational age, and the method and basis of the determination;
    2. If a detectable human heartbeat, as such term is defined in Code Section 1-2-1, exists, the basis of the determination that the pregnant woman had a medically futile pregnancy, that a medical emergency existed, or that the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest; and
    3. The method used for the abortion.
  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; Ga. L. 2019, p. 711, § 11/HB 481.)

The 2019 amendment, effective January 1, 2020, substituted the present provisions of paragraph (a)(1) for the former provisions, which read: "If a determination of probable gestational age was made, the probable gestational age determined and the method and basis of the determination;"; deleted former paragraph (a)(2), which read: "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;"; redesignated former paragraphs (a)(3) and (a)(4) as present paragraphs (a)(2) and (a)(3), respectively; substituted the present provisions of paragraph (a)(2) for the former provisions of paragraph (a)(3), which read: "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"; and substituted the present provisions of paragraph (a)(3) for the former provisions of paragraph (a)(4), which read: "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."

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 2019, p. 711, § 1/HB 481, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "This Act shall be known and may be cited as the 'Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act.'"

Ga. L. 2019, p. 711, § 2/HB 481, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "The General Assembly of Georgia makes the following findings:"

"(1) In the founding of the United States of America, the State of Georgia and the several states affirmed that: 'We hold these Truths to be self evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness - that to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among men;'

"(2) To protect the fundamental rights of all persons, and specifically to protect the fundamental rights of particular classes of persons who had not previously been recognized under law, the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, providing that, 'nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws';

"(3) Modern medical science, not available decades ago, demonstrates that unborn children are a class of living, distinct persons and more expansive state recognition of unborn children as persons did not exist when Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992) and Roe v. Wade (1973) established abortion related precedents;

"(4) The State of Georgia, applying reasoned judgment to the full body of modern medical science, recognizes the benefits of providing full legal recognition to an unborn child above the minimum requirements of federal law;

"(5) Article I, Section I, Paragraphs I and II of the Constitution of the State of Georgia affirm that '[n]o person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property except by due process of law'; and that '[p]rotection to person and property is the paramount duty of government and shall be impartial and complete. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws'; and

"(6) It shall be the policy of the State of Georgia to recognize unborn children as natural persons."

Ga. L. 2019, p. 711, § 13/HB 481, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "Any citizen of this state shall have standing and the right to intervene and defend in any action challenging the constitutionality of any portion of this Act."

Ga. L. 2019, p. 711, § 14/HB 481, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "All provisions of this Act shall be severable in accordance with Code Section 1-1-3."

Law reviews.

- For article on the 2019 amendment of this Code section, see 36 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 155 (2019).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Cited in Lathrop v. Deal, 301 Ga. 408, 801 S.E.2d 867 (2017).

CHAPTER 10 VITAL RECORDS

Sec.

  • 31-10-1. Definitions.
  • 31-10-2. Maintenance and operation of vital records registration system.
  • 31-10-3. Rules and regulations.
  • 31-10-4. Appointment of state registrar of vital records.
  • 31-10-5. Duties and powers of state registrar; delegation of functions and duties.
  • 31-10-6. Local registrars, local custodians, special abstracting agents, and deputies; appointment; duties.
  • 31-10-7. Form of certificates and reports; date received for registration required; filing or registration of information by photographic, electronic, or other means.
  • 31-10-8. Certification to county treasurers of birth and death certificates and spontaneous fetal death reports filed; fees.
  • 31-10-9. Registration of births.
  • 31-10-9.1. Social security account information of parents.
  • 31-10-9.2. Abuse or neglect reports; establishment of policies and procedures.
  • 31-10-10. Registration of live born infants of unknown parentage.
  • 31-10-11. Registration of delayed certificate of birth.
  • 31-10-12. Judicial procedure to establish facts of birth.
  • 31-10-13. Certificates of adoption.
  • 31-10-13.1. Certified copies of orders and registration of legitimations and paternity orders.
  • 31-10-13.2. Provision of copies of legitimation and paternity orders to state registrar.
  • 31-10-14. Issuance of new certificate of birth following adoption and legitimation or paternity determination.
  • 31-10-15. Death certificate; filing; medical certification; forwarding death certificate to decedent's county of residence; purging voter registration list.
  • 31-10-16. Criteria for pronouncing death; immunity from liability.
  • 31-10-17. State registration of death certificates; certified copies; certificates of record.
  • 31-10-18. Registration of spontaneous fetal deaths.
  • 31-10-19. Reporting of induced termination of pregnancy.
  • 31-10-20. Permits for disposition, disinterment, and reinterment.
  • 31-10-21. Record of marriage licenses.
  • 31-10-22. Record of divorces, dissolutions, and annulments.
  • 31-10-23. Amendment of certificates or reports.
  • 31-10-24. Preservation or disposition of vital records; certified reproductions; preserved originals and authorized reproductions as property of department.
  • 31-10-25. Disclosure of information contained in vital records; transfer of records to State Archives.
  • 31-10-26. Issuance of certified copies of vital records, voluntary acknowledgments of paternity, voluntary acknowledgments of legitimation; certificates; use for statistical purposes; transmittal of records out of state; use for commercial or speculative purposes.
  • 31-10-27. Fees for copies or services.
  • 31-10-28. Institutions to keep vital records.
  • 31-10-29. Privileged nature of disclosures; notification of local registrar of institutional deaths and fetal deaths; notification of board of voting registrars of adult deaths.
  • 31-10-30. Posting facts of death to birth certificates.
  • 31-10-31. Penalties.
  • 31-10-32. Extension of periods for filing of certificates or reports.
  • 31-10-33. Procedure for stillbirth.
Cross references.

- Replacement of licenses, state identification cards, and other documents during periods of natural disaster, § 50-1-9.

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 1982, p. 723, § 2, effective November 1, 1982, rewrote this chapter, amending, renumbering, and repealing the Code sections therein. See the history lines to determine, where applicable, the former Code section numbers.

The former chapter consisted of Code Sections 31-10-1 through 31-10-75. Those Code sections which were repealed were based on Ga. L. 1914, p. 157, §§ 3, 4; Ga. L. 1927, p. 353, §§ 3, 4; Ga. L. 1931, p. 7, §§ 16, 17; Ga. L. 1933, p. 7, § 1; Ga. L. 1945, p. 236, §§ 1, 5, 6; Ga. L. 1953, Jan.-Feb. Sess., p. 140, § 2; Ga. L. 1964, p. 499, § 1 and Ga. L. 1981, p. 1456, § 1.

Administrative Rules and Regulations.

- Vital records, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Georgia Department of Public Health, Administration, Subject 511-1-3.

Law reviews.

- For note on 1991 amendments to this chapter, see 8 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 81 (1992). For note, "Big Brother is Watching: When Should Georgia Get Involved in Issues of Family Privacy to Protect Children's Liberties?," see 34 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 819 (2018).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

It was never intended that former Code 1933, § 88-1202 should repeal provisions of former Code 1933, § 38-303. Stewart v. State, 72 Ga. App. 308, 33 S.E.2d 744 (1945).

Law was not intended to preclude parents from testifying as to ages of their children. Stewart v. State, 72 Ga. App. 308, 33 S.E.2d 744 (1945).

Cited in Evans v. DeKalb County Hosp. Auth., 154 Ga. App. 17, 267 S.E.2d 319 (1980); Porter v. Calhoun County, 162 Ga. App. 839, 293 S.E.2d 4 (1982).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

For discussion of new and corrected birth certificates for children adopted or legitimated outside of Georgia, see 1980 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 80-58.

Naturopath is not authorized to sign a death certificate. 1957 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 339.


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