2023 Pennsylvania Consolidated & Unconsolidated Statutes › Title 18 - CRIMES AND OFFENSES › Chapter 32 - Abortion › Section 3215 - Publicly owned facilities; public officials and public funds

§ 3215. Publicly owned facilities; public officials and public funds.
(a) Limitations.--
No hospital, clinic or other health facility owned or operated by the Commonwealth, a county, a city or other governmental entity (except the government of the United States, another state or a foreign nation) shall:
(1) Provide, induce, perform or permit its facilities to be used for the provision, inducement or performance of any abortion except where necessary to avert the death of the woman or where necessary to terminate pregnancies initiated by acts of rape or incest if reported in accordance with requirements set forth in subsection (c).
(2) Lease or sell or permit the subleasing of its facilities or property to any physician or health facility for use in the provision, inducement or performance of abortion, except abortion necessary to avert the death of the woman or to terminate pregnancies initiated by acts of rape or incest if reported in accordance with requirements set forth in subsection (c).
(3) Enter into any contract with any physician or health facility under the terms of which such physician or health facility agrees to provide, induce or perform abortions, except abortion necessary to avert the death of the woman or to terminate pregnancies initiated by acts of rape or incest if reported in accordance with requirements set forth in subsection (c).
(b) Permitted treatment.--
Nothing in subsection (a) shall be construed to preclude any hospital, clinic or other health facility from providing treatment for post-abortion complications.
(c) Public funds.--
No Commonwealth funds and no Federal funds which are appropriated by the Commonwealth shall be expended by any State or local government agency for the performance of abortion, except:
(1) When abortion is necessary to avert the death of the mother on certification by a physician. When such physician will perform the abortion or has a pecuniary or proprietary interest in the abortion there shall be a separate certification from a physician who has no such interest.
(2) When abortion is performed in the case of pregnancy caused by rape which, prior to the performance of the abortion, has been reported, together with the identity of the offender, if known, to a law enforcement agency having the requisite jurisdiction and has been personally reported by the victim.
(3) When abortion is performed in the case of pregnancy caused by incest which, prior to the performance of the abortion, has been personally reported by the victim to a law enforcement agency having the requisite jurisdiction, or, in the case of a minor, to the county child protective service agency and the other party to the incestuous act has been named in such report.
(d) Health plans.--
No health plan for employees, funded with any Commonwealth funds, shall include coverage for abortion, except under the same conditions and requirements as provided in subsection (c). The prohibition contained herein shall not apply to health plans for which abortion coverage has been expressly bargained for in any collective bargaining agreement presently in effect, but shall be construed to preclude such coverage with respect to any future agreement.
(e) Insurance policies.--
All insurers who make available health care and disability insurance policies in this Commonwealth shall make available such policies which contain an express exclusion of coverage for abortion services not necessary to avert the death of the woman or to terminate pregnancies caused by rape or incest.
(f) Public officers; ordering abortions.--
Except in the case of a medical emergency, no court, judge, executive officer, administrative agency or public employee of the Commonwealth or of any local governmental body shall have power to issue any order requiring an abortion without the express voluntary consent of the woman upon whom the abortion is to be performed or shall coerce any person to have an abortion.
(g) Public officers; limiting benefits prohibited.--
No court, judge, executive officer, administrative agency or public employee of the Commonwealth or of any local governmental body shall withhold, reduce or suspend or threaten to withhold, reduce or suspend any benefits to which a person would otherwise be entitled on the ground that such person chooses not to have an abortion.
(h) Penalty.--
Whoever orders an abortion in violation of subsection (f) or withholds, reduces or suspends any benefits or threatens to withhold, reduce or suspend any benefits in violation of subsection (g) commits a misdemeanor of the first degree.
(i) Public funds for legal services.--
No Federal or State funds which are appropriated by the Commonwealth for the provision of legal services by private agencies, and no public funds generated by collection of interest on lawyer's trust accounts, as authorized by statute previously or subsequently enacted, may be used, directly or indirectly, to:
(1) Advocate the freedom to choose abortion or the prohibition of abortion.
(2) Provide legal assistance with respect to any proceeding or litigation which seeks to procure or prevent any abortion or to procure or prevent public funding for any abortion.
(3) Provide legal assistance with respect to any proceeding or litigation which seeks to compel or prevent the performance or assistance in the performance of any abortion, or the provision of facilities for the performance of any abortion.
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to require or prevent the expenditure of funds pursuant to a court order awarding fees for attorney's services under the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Awards Act of 1976 (Public law 94-559, 90 Stat. 2641), nor shall this subsection be construed to prevent the use of public funds to provide court appointed counsel in any proceeding authorized under section 3206 (relating to parental consent).
(j) Required statements.--
No Commonwealth agency shall make any payment from Federal or State funds appropriated by the Commonwealth for the performance of any abortion pursuant to subsection (c)(2) or (3) unless the Commonwealth agency first:
(1) receives from the physician or facility seeking payment a statement signed by the physician performing the abortion stating that, prior to performing the abortion, he obtained a non-notarized, signed statement from the pregnant woman stating that she was a victim of rape or incest, as the case may be, and that she reported the crime, including the identity of the offender, if known, to a law enforcement agency having the requisite jurisdiction or, in the case of incest where a pregnant minor is the victim, to the county child protective service agency and stating the name of the law enforcement agency or child protective service agency to which the report was made and the date such report was made;
(2) receives from the physician or facility seeking payment, the signed statement of the pregnant woman which is described in paragraph (1). The statement shall bear the notice that any false statements made therein are punishable by law and shall state that the pregnant woman is aware that false reports to law enforcement authorities are punishable by law; and
(3) verifies with the law enforcement agency or child protective service agency named in the statement of the pregnant woman whether a report of rape or incest was filed with the agency in accordance with the statement.
The Commonwealth agency shall report any evidence of false statements, of false reports to law enforcement authorities or of fraud in the procurement or attempted procurement of any payment from Federal or State funds appropriated by the Commonwealth pursuant to this section to the district attorney of appropriate jurisdiction and, where appropriate, to the Attorney General.
(Mar. 25, 1988, P.L.262, No.31, eff. 30 days; Nov. 17, 1989, P.L.592, No.64, eff. 60 days)
1989 Amendment.
Act 64 amended subsec. (b).
1988 Amendment.
Act 31 amended subsecs. (c) and (e) and added subsecs. (i) and (j).
Cross References.
Section 3215 is referred to in section 3302 of Title 40 (Insurance).