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2019 Guam Statutes
Title 10 - Health & Safety
Division 4 - Guam Health Act
Chapter 91A - The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2008

Universal Citation: 10 Guam Code §§ 91A101 - 91A111 (2019)
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10 GCA HEALTH AND S AFETY CH. 91A THE P ARTIAL-B IRTH ABORTION B AN ACT OF 2008 CHAPTER 91A THE PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION BAN ACT OF 2008 SOURCE: Chapter was added by P.L. 29-115:1 (Nov. 18, 2008). § 91A101. § 91A102. § 91A103. § 91A104. § 91A105. § 91A106. § 91A107. § 91A108. § 91A109. § 91A110. § 91A111. Title Legislative Findings and Intent. Definitions. Prohibition. Partial-Birth Abortions Punished. Criminal Penalties. Civil Penalties. Review by the Guam Board of Medical Examiners. Prosecutorial Exclusion. Construction. Penalties for Ambulatory Healthcare Facilities. § 91A101. Title. This Chapter may be cited and referred to as “The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2008”. § 91A102. Legislative Findings and Intent. I Liheslaturan Guåhan finds that a moral, medical, and ethical consensus exists that the practice of performing a partial-birth abortion is a gruesome and inhumane procedure that is never medically necessary and should be prohibited. The passage by the 108th Congress with the President signing the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 into law provides a legal direction for Guam to ban partial-birth abortions. I Liheslaturan Guåhan further finds that on March 18, 2007, the United States Supreme Court upheld this position in Gonzales v. Carhart, 127 S. Ct. 1610 (2007), ruling that the State may prohibit partial-birth abortions that do not include the maternal “health” exception. The language in this bill stems from and uses as its primary influence the language of the federal “Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, 18 U.S.C. §1531”, upheld in Gonzales. Partial-birth abortion poses serious risks to the long-term health of women. It is not an abortion procedure that is universally embraced by the mainstream medical community. Partial-birth abortion poses serious risks to the health of a woman 1 COL 040209 10 GCA HEALTH AND S AFETY CH. 91A THE P ARTIAL-B IRTH ABORTION B AN ACT OF 2008 undergoing the procedure. Those risks include, among other things: an increase in a woman’s risk of suffering from cervical incompetence, a result of cervical dilation making it difficult or impossible for a woman to successfully carry a subsequent pregnancy to term; an increased risk of uterine rupture, abruption, amniotic fluid embolus, and trauma to the uterus as a result of converting the child to a footling breech position, a procedure which, according to a leading obstetrics textbook, “there are very few, if any, indications for other than for delivery of a second twin”; and a risk of lacerations and secondary hemorrhaging due to the doctor blindly forcing a sharp instrument into the base of the unborn child’s skull while he or she is lodged in the birth canal, an act which could result in severe bleeding and subsequent shock. As a result, at least thirty-one (31) States have enacted bans of “partial-birth” abortions, as did the 104th, 105th, 106th and 108th Congresses, and the President, upon signing of the “Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003” into law. There is no credible medical evidence that partial-birth abortions are safer than other abortion procedures. No controlled studies of partial-birth abortions have been conducted nor have any comparative studies been conducted to demonstrate its safety and efficacy compared to other abortion methods. Furthermore, there have been no articles published in peer-review journals that establish that partial-birth abortions are superior in any way to established abortion procedures. In light of the overwhelming evidence, Guam has an interest in prohibiting partial-birth abortions. Both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992) recognized a governmental interest in protecting the life of a child during the delivery process. This interest arises during a partial-birth abortion because labor is induced and the birth process has begun. Partial-birth abortions kill a child that is mere inches away from becoming a “person” under Roe. Thus, the government has a heightened interest in protecting the life of the partially-born child. The public’s perception of the appropriate role of a physician during the delivery process is undermined by aborting a child in the manner that purposefully seeks to kill the child inches from “personhood” and the resulting protections conferred upon the fully born child. Partial-birth abortion is disturbingly similar to the killing of a newborn infant and blurs the line between infanticide and abortion. This legislation reinforces the line at birth between abortion and infanticide that the 2 COL 040209 10 GCA HEALTH AND S AFETY CH. 91A THE P ARTIAL-B IRTH ABORTION B AN ACT OF 2008 Supreme Court established in Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973). This legislation draws a bright line that clearly distinguishes abortion and infanticide that preserves the integrity of the medical profession, and promotes respect for human life. The vast majority of babies killed during partial-birth abortions are alive up through the very end of the procedure. It is a medical fact that unborn infants subjected to partial-birth abortion can feel pain when subjected to painful stimuli. Furthermore, an unborn child’s perception of pain is even more than that of newborn infants and older children. I Liheslaturan Guåhan, for these reasons, finds that partial-birth abortion is in fact unrecognized as a valid abortion procedure by the mainstream medical community; poses additional health risks to the mother; blurs the line between abortion and infanticide in the killing of a partiallyborn child just inches from birth; and confuses the role of the physician in childbirth and should, therefore, be banned. § 91A103. Definitions. For purposes of this Chapter, the following words and phrases are defined to mean: (a) The term partial-birth abortion means an abortion in which the person performing the abortion: (1) deliberately and intentionally vaginally delivers a living fetus until, in the case of a head-first presentation, the entire fetal head is outside the body of the mother, or, in the case of breech presentation, any part of the fetal trunk past the navel is outside of the body of the mother, for the purpose of performing an overt act that the person knows will kill the partially-delivered living fetus; and (2) performs the overt act, other than completion of delivery, that kills the partially-delivered living fetus. (b) The term physician means a doctor of medicine or osteopathy legally authorized to practice medicine and surgery by the Guam Board of Medical Examiners in which the doctor performs such activity, or any other individual legally authorized by the Guam Board of Medical Examiners to perform abortions; provided, however, that any individual who is not a physician or not otherwise legally authorized by the Guam Board of Medical Examiners to perform abortions, but who nevertheless directly performs a partial-birth abortion, shall be subject to the provisions of this 3 COL 040209 10 GCA HEALTH AND S AFETY CH. 91A THE P ARTIAL-B IRTH ABORTION B AN ACT OF 2008 Section. § 91A104. Prohibition. A person shall not knowingly perform or attempt to perform a partialbirth abortion. Any physician who knowingly performs a partial-birth abortion and thereby kills a human fetus shall be fined under this Title or imprisoned not more than ten (10) years, or both. This Subsection takes effect one (1) day after the enactment. This Subsection does not apply to a partial-birth abortion that is necessary to save the life of a mother whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself. § 91A105. Partial-Birth Abortions Punished. Any person performing a partial-birth abortion shall be guilty of a third degree felony. § 91A106. Criminal Penalties. (a) Any person who intentionally or knowingly violates this Act is guilty of a third degree felony. (b) Any physician who intentionally or knowingly performs a partialbirth abortion and thereby kills a human fetus shall be fined not less than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) nor more than One-Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) under this Title, or imprisoned for not less than one (1) year nor more than ten (10) years, or both. § 91A107. Civil Penalties. (a) The father, if married to the mother at the time she receives a partial-birth abortion procedure, and, if the mother has not attained the age of eighteen (18) years at the time of the abortion, the maternal grandparents of the fetus may in a civil action obtain appropriate relief, unless the pregnancy resulted from the plaintiff’s criminal conduct or the plaintiff consented to the abortion. (b) Such relief shall include: (1) money damages for all injuries, psychological and physical, occasioned by the violation of this Section; and (2) statutory damages equal to three (3) times the cost of partialbirth abortion. 4 COL 040209 10 GCA HEALTH AND S AFETY CH. 91A THE P ARTIAL-B IRTH ABORTION B AN ACT OF 2008 (3) Attorney’s Fees. If judgment is rendered in favor of the plaintiff in an action described in this Section, the court shall also render judgment for a reasonable attorney’s fee in favor of the plaintiff against the defendant. If the judgment is rendered in favor of the defendant and the court finds that the plaintiff’s suit was frivolous and brought in bad faith, the court shall also render judgment for a reasonable attorney’s fee in favor of the defendant against the plaintiff. § 91A108. Review by the Guam Board of Medical Examiners. (a) A defendant accused of an offense under this Section may seek a hearing before the Guam Board of Medical Examiners as to whether the physician’s conduct was necessary to save the life of the mother whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself. (b) The findings on the issue are admissible at the civil and/or criminal trial(s) of the defendant. Upon a motion of the defendant, the court shall delay the beginning of the trial(s) for not more than thirty (30) days to permit such a hearing to take place. (c) A defendant convicted of an offense under this Act shall have his medical license revoked by the Guam Board of Medical Examiners. § 91A109. Prosecutorial Exclusion. A woman upon whom a partial-birth abortion is performed may not be prosecuted under this Section for a conspiracy to violate Section 3 of this bill. § 91A110. Construction. (a) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as creating or recognizing a right to abortion. (b) It is not the intention of this Chapter to make lawful an abortion that is currently unlawful. § 91A111. Penalties for Ambulatory Healthcare Facilities. (a) An ambulatory healthcare facility licensed pursuant to Chapter 15, Title 18 of the Guam Code Annotated in which the partial-birth abortion is performed in shall be in violation of this Act and shall be subject to immediate revocation of its license(s) by the Guam Board of Medical Examiners, pursuant to Part 1, Article 2, §12209, Chapter 12, Title 10 of the 5 COL 040209 10 GCA HEALTH AND S AFETY CH. 91A THE P ARTIAL-B IRTH ABORTION B AN ACT OF 2008 Guam Code Annotated. (b) An ambulatory healthcare facility license pursuant to Chapter 15, Title 18 of the Guam Code Annotated in which the partial-birth abortion is performed in, shall be in violation of this Act and shall lose all local funding for two (2) years and will be required to reimburse the government for funds from the calendar/fiscal year in which the partial-birth abortion was performed. ---------- 6 COL 040209 COL 040209
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