Under existing law, all forms of abortion are prohibited, except to prevent a serious health risk to the unborn child's mother. This bill would prohibit the manufacture, distribution, mailing, transporting, delivery, prescription, or any other provision of an abortion-inducing drug in this state, unless such manufacture, distribution, mailing, transport, delivery, prescription, or other provision is solely: (i) for a purpose that is not an abortion; or (ii) to treat a medical emergency, remove an ectopic pregnancy, or remove a dead unborn child whose death was caused by a miscarriage. This bill would authorize any individual to bring a qui tam action against a person who violates or intends to violate the prohibition, provided that neither the state nor its political subdivisions may bring, engage with, or intervene in such a suit. This bill would prohibit a qui tam action from being filed against certain parties, including, but not limited to, women using abortion-inducing drugs to abort or attempt to abort their own unborn child; transportation network companies or delivery persons; Internet service providers; air carriers; certain individuals acting under the direction of a federal agency or federal law; health care facilities and hospitals; health care providers who mail, distribute, transport, deliver, prescribe, or otherwise provide abortion-inducing drugs in this state while located outside the state; and certain pharmaceutical manufacturers or distributors who fail to adopt a policy to implement this bill. This bill would prohibit certain individuals who themselves, or in concert with another: (i) commit domestic violence, a sexual offense, or stalking against a woman; or (ii) provide an abortion-inducing drug to a woman without her knowledge, from bringing a qui tam suit. This bill would provide procedures relating to a qui tam action, including a statute of limitation, prohibitions on the disclosure of certain protected or personal information, and taking of depositions. This bill would provide affirmative defense to a qui tam action, including, but not limited to, that the defendant: (i) was unaware of the conduct that is the subject of the suit; and (ii) took reasonable precautions to prohibit violations of the act. This bill would provide that the court must award injunctive relief, a $100,000 monetary award, and court costs and reasonable attorney fees to a successful qui tam relator. This bill would also authorize certain civil actions to prevent interference with qui tam actions through "clawback" provisions that authorize a civil action in other states.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 26-23J-1, 26-23J-1