Section 51.31. Adoption and substance of stated ethical policy

(a) Section 5.2(a) of the act (43 P. S. § 955.2(a)) permits a hospital or other health care facility to make a determination, in the form of a stated ethical policy, with regard to whether such institution will permit or refuse to permit the performance of abortion or sterilization procedures upon its premises. Pursuant to ‘‘Abortion and Sterilization in Public Hospitals,’’ Opinion No. 75-16 of the Attorney General, appearing at 5 Pa.B. 1383, no public hospital or other public health care facility may make such a determination, in the form of a stated ethical policy or otherwise, which would prohibit upon its premises the performance of sterilization procedures or the performance of abortion procedures prior to the last trimester of pregnancy.

(b) No nonpublic hospital or other nonpublic health care facility shall be required to or held liable for refusal to perform or permit the performance of abortion or sterilization contrary to its stated ethical policy. Such policy shall consist of a written statement which reflects an official resolution or declaration of a board of directors or other governing body of a nonpublic hospital or other nonpublic health care facility charged with the responsibility for over-all administration and policy determination for such institution. Such policy shall be adopted by a board of directors or other governing body of such institution in the same manner as and following the procedures used for the consideration and adoption of all other policy decisions concerning the rendering of health care service by such institution.

(c) The stated ethical policy of a hospital or other health care facility shall expressly set forth the policy of that institution with regard to the performance of abortion or sterilization procedures in such hospital or facility. The policy may, in addition, be based upon specified and well-defined moral, religious, or professional grounds. The adoption of a stated ethical policy by a nonpublic hospital or other nonpublic health care facility, the effect of which would be to refuse to permit the performance of abortion or sterilization procedures upon its premises, must have occurred subsequent to January 22, 1973, the date when the United States Supreme Court rendered its decisions in the cases concerning the right to abortion: Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 93 S. Ct. 705, 35 L. Ed. 2d 147 (1973) and Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, 93 S. Ct. 739, 35 L. Ed. 2d 201 (1973).

(d) If a nonpublic hospital or other nonpublic health care facility desires to retain, as its official policy, a stated ethical policy which existed prior to such date and which refuses to permit the performance of abortion or sterilization procedures upon its premises, such policy must be reaffirmed or restated subsequent to such date.

(e) The stated ethical policy of a hospital or other health care facility shall be made known to all persons employed by or participating in medical or other services provided by such institution, and such policy shall be freely available and conspicuously posted for public inspection.

(f) In the absence of a stated ethical policy as set forth in this section, it will be presumed that a nonpublic hospital or other nonpublic health care facility possesses no stated ethical policy regarding the performance of abortion or sterilization procedures in such institution.

Notation

Cross References

This section cited in 16 Pa. Code § 51.32 (relating to objection to performance of abortion or sterilization by nonpublic hospitals or other nonpublic health care facilities on moral, religious or professional grounds); and 28 Pa. Code § 119.22 (relating to referral).