Part Fetal Life Protection Act Fetal Life Protection Act
Section 329:43
329:43 Definitions. –
In this subdivision:
I. "Abortion" means the act of using or prescribing any instrument, medicine, drug, or any other substance, device, or means with the intent to terminate the clinically diagnosable pregnancy of a woman with knowledge that the termination by those means will with reasonable likelihood cause the death of the fetus. Such use, prescription, or means is not an abortion if done with the intent to:
(a) Save the life or preserve the health of the fetus;
(b) Remove a dead fetus caused by spontaneous abortion; or
(c) Remove an ectopic pregnancy.
II. "Attempt to perform" means an act or omission of a statutorily required act that, under the circumstances as the actor believes them to be, constitutes a substantial step in a course of conduct planned to culminate in the performance or inducement of an abortion.
III. "Conception" means the fusion of a human spermatozoon with a human ovum.
IV. "Gestational age" means the time that has elapsed since the first day of the woman's last menstrual period.
V. "Major bodily function" includes, but is not limited to, functions of the immune system, normal cell growth, and digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine, and reproductive functions.
VI. "Medical facility" means any public or private hospital, clinic, center, medical school, medical training institution, health care facility, physician's office, infirmary, dispensary, ambulatory surgical treatment center, or other institution or location wherein medical care is provided to any person.
VII. "Health care provider" means any person who provides health care services. The term includes but is not limited to medical doctors, doctors of osteopathy, nurses, or any employee of a medical facility.
VIII. "Pregnant" or "pregnancy" means the female reproductive condition of having one or more developing embryos or fetuses implanted in the uterus or elsewhere in the female body.
IX. "Probable gestational age" means what, in reasonable medical judgment, will with reasonable probability be the gestational age of the fetus at the time the abortion is considered, performed, or attempted.
X. "Reasonable medical judgment" means that medical judgment that would be made by a reasonably prudent health care provider in the community, knowledgeable about the case and the treatment possibilities with respect to the medical conditions involved.
XI. "Fetus" means an unborn offspring, from the embryo stage which is the end of the twentieth week after conception or, in the case of in vitro fertilization, the end of the twentieth week after implantation, until birth.