Kolkhorst Bill Bars Donated Bodies From Paid Public Exhibits

The text as introduced · 999 words

89R4836 EAS-D

By: Kolkhorst
S.B. No. 1973

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the regulation of human body acquisition services and

authorized recipients.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 8, Health and Safety Code, is

amended by adding Chapter 692B to read as follows:

CHAPTER 692B. HUMAN BODY ACQUISITION SERVICES AND AUTHORIZED

RECIPIENTS

Sec. 692B.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:

(1) "Authorized recipient" means a person or facility

located in this state that in accordance with state law and the

rules adopted under this chapter obtains a whole body, body

segment, part, or nontransplant anatomical part from a human body

acquisition service or the commission.

(2) "Body" means the intact corporeal remains of a

human.

(3) "Body segment" means a portion of a whole body

detached for purposes of study, evaluation, education, or research

and composed of contiguous mixed tissues with relationships altered

only at the segment boundaries.

(4) "Commission" means the Texas Funeral Service

Commission.

(5) "Department" means the Department of State Health

Services.

(6) "Human body acquisition service" means a person or

facility that solicits, retrieves, performs donor selection on,

preserves, transports, allocates, distributes, acquires,

processes, stores, or arranges storage for whole bodies, body

segments, parts, or nontransplant anatomical parts, solely for

education or research purposes.

(7) "Nontransplant anatomical part" means a part

donated for a purpose other than transplantation.

(8) "Part" has the meaning assigned by Section

692A.002.

Sec. 692B.002. RULES. To protect the public health,

safety, and welfare, the commission, in consultation with the

department, shall adopt the rules necessary to implement and

enforce this chapter.

Sec. 692B.003. INFORMED CONSENT REQUIRED. (a) A human body

acquisition service may accept a donation of a whole body, body

segment, part, or nontransplant anatomical part only if the service

obtains documented informed consent to the donation from a person

authorized to consent to the donation in accordance with Chapter

692A.

(b) The informed consent document for a donation governed by

this chapter must:

(1) identify the authorized recipient of the donation;

(2) indicate whether the gift is of the whole body or

is limited to specified identifiable body segments, parts, or

nontransplant anatomical parts; and

(3) clearly specify the authorized uses of the donated

body, segments, or parts.

(c) Except as provided by Section 692B.004, a human body

acquisition service may only use or transfer a whole body, body

segment, part, or nontransplant anatomical part for a purpose

specified in the informed consent document.

Sec. 692B.004. PRESUMPTION FOR RECIPIENT OF UNSPECIFIED

DONATION. (a) Unless specific direction is provided in an informed

consent document for a donation of a whole body, body segment, part,

or nontransplant anatomical part, the donated body, segment, or

part is presumed to be donated to the commission or a person or

facility included on the commission's list of authorized recipients

under Section 692B.006(c).

(b) The commission or a person or facility included on the

commission's list of authorized recipients under Section

692B.006(c) may transfer or authorize the transfer of the whole

body, body segment, part, or nontransplant anatomical part to

another person authorized to receive an anatomical gift under

Chapter 691 or 692A for purposes of:

(1) medical or dental education;

(2) medical or dental research; or

(3) the advancement of medical or dental science,

therapy, or transplantation.

Sec. 692B.005. RETRIEVAL AND ACQUISITION OF NONTRANSPLANT

ANATOMICAL PARTS. A nontransplant anatomical part may be retrieved

only on the premises of:

(1) a hospital licensed under Chapter 241; or

(2) a human body acquisition service.

Sec. 692B.006. RULES. (a) The commission by rule, and in

consultation with the department, shall establish eligibility

criteria for a person or facility to qualify as an authorized

recipient to receive a whole body, body segment, part, or

nontransplant anatomical part under this chapter.

(b) The rules adopted under Subsection (a) must prohibit the

transfer of a whole body, body segment, part, or nontransplant

anatomical part to:

(1) a person or facility located in a country for which

coverage is prohibited under Section 1380.003, Insurance Code;

(2) a business entity, as defined by Section 572.002,

Government Code; or

(3) a person or facility that charges an admission fee

to allow members of the public to view a whole body, body segment,

part, or nontransplant anatomical part.

(c) The commission shall publish and maintain a list of

persons and facilities that satisfy the eligibility criteria under

Subsection (a) on the commission's Internet website.

(d) The commission shall conduct a random audit of persons

and facilities that receive a whole body, body segment, part, or

nontransplant anatomical part under this chapter to ensure the

religious or sincerely held beliefs of the deceased individual

whose whole body, body segment, part, or nontransplant anatomical

part the institution receives are honored during each step of the

human body acquisition process, if those beliefs are known to the

commission.

Sec. 692B.007. REPORT. On request, a human body

acquisition service or authorized recipient shall submit to the

commission reports on the service's or recipient's activities as

may be required by this chapter or commission rule. The director of

the human body acquisition service or authorized recipient shall

sign each report.

Sec. 692B.008. ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES. (a) Each human

body acquisition service and authorized recipient is subject to

regulation, including investigations and enforcement, under

Chapter 691.

(b) A person who violates this chapter is subject to the

enforcement and penalties authorized under Chapter 691 as if the

person violated or failed to perform a duty imposed under that

chapter.

SECTION 2. Chapter 692B, Health and Safety Code, as added by

this Act, applies only to conduct that is subject to regulation,

enforcement, and penalties under that chapter that occurs on or

after the effective date of this Act. Conduct that occurs before

that date is governed by the law in effect on the date the conduct

occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for that

purpose.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.