HOUSE BILL 464

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2017

INTRODUCED BY

David M. Gallegos and Rod Montoya

and William E. Sharer

AN ACT

RELATING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER; REQUIRING THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO AND THE HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER TO REPORT TO THE LEGISLATIVE FINANCE COMMITTEE ON ISSUES PERTAINING TO THE CENTER'S USE OF ABORTED FETAL BODY PARTS FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH AND TRANSPLANTATION; HAVING THE COMMITTEE RESORT TO ITS SUBPOENA POWER IF IT FAILS TO GET THE REQUESTED INFORMATION.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. TEMPORARY PROVISION--LEGISLATIVE FINANCE COMMITTEE--HEARING WITH THE BOARD OF REGENTS AND HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO--ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FROM CONGRESS AND NEW MEXICO LEGISLATORS--USE OF COMMITTEE'S SUBPOENA POWER--REDUCING OR WITHHOLDING FISCAL YEAR 2019 RESEARCH BUDGET OF THE HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER IF UNRESPONSIVE.--

          A. The legislative finance committee shall hold a meeting to receive information from the university of New Mexico health sciences center and the board of regents of the university of New Mexico that was requested by the select investigative panel of the United States congress and by New Mexico legislators, most recently in a letter directed to the board of regents on November 14, 2016, on the center's use of aborted fetal body parts for medical research and transplantation, including:

                (1) all information provided to the house select panel before and in response to the select panel's subpoenas;

                (2) information about the relationships between the health sciences center and other abortion providers;

                (3) the expansion of the university's practice of medical and surgical abortions at its hospital and clinics within the last fifteen years;

                (4) the alleged disregard for federal and state informed consent provisions by health sciences center staff and providers of aborted fetal body parts;

                (5) information that pertains to allegations of violation of state and federal law, including:

                     (a) Section 24-6B-2 NMSA 1978, which excludes "a fetus that is the subject of an induced abortion" from the definition of "decedent" in the Jonathan Spradling Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act;

                     (b) Section 24-9A-5 NMSA 1978, which prohibits any "clinical research activity involving fetuses, live-born infants or pregnant women" unless the woman has given informed consent pursuant to the Maternal, Fetal and Infant Experimentation Act;

                     (c) 42 U.S.C. Section 289g-1(b)(1) and (2)(A)(i), which require written informed consent of the woman providing the human fetal tissue, and, in the case of induced abortion, require the consent of the woman for the abortion prior to requesting or obtaining consent for a donation of tissue; and

                     (d) 42 U.S.C. Section 289g-2 (a), (d) and (e)(3), which create a crime of knowingly acquiring, receiving or otherwise transferring human fetal tissue for valuable consideration and provide the penalty; and

                (6) any other information the committee believes is relevant to the issue of medical research at the university of New Mexico using aborted fetal body parts.

          B. If the health sciences center and the board of regents fail to respond to the committee's request, the committee shall issue a subpoena as provided in Section 2-5-5 NMSA 1978 to have the board of regents and the health sciences center provide the requested information.

          C. If, by December 1, 2017, the health sciences center and the board of regents have continued to be unresponsive to the legislative finance committee request for oral and written presentations of information required by Subsection A of this section, the committee shall recommend to the legislature a reduction of twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) in the research budget of the health sciences center of the university of New Mexico or a withholding of that amount until the health sciences center and the board of regents provide the information the legislative finance committee has requested.

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