1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to health; providing for grants and public
1.3 	information related to positive abortion alternatives;
1.4 	appropriating money; proposing coding for new law in
1.5 	Minnesota Statutes, chapter 145.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. SHORT TITLE.
 1.8 	This act may be cited as the "Positive Alternatives Act." 

1.9 	Sec. 2. [145.4231] POSITIVE ABORTION ALTERNATIVES.
1.10 		Subdivision 1.Definitions. For purposes of this
1.11 	section, the following terms have the meaning given:
1.12 	(1) "abortion" means the use of any means to terminate the
1.13 	pregnancy of a woman known to be pregnant with knowledge that
1.14 	the termination with those means will, with reasonable
1.15 	likelihood, cause the death of the unborn child.  For purposes
1.16 	of this section, abortion does not include an abortion necessary
1.17 	to prevent the death of the mother; and 
1.18 	(2) "unborn child" means an individual organism of the
1.19 	species Homo sapiens from fertilization until birth.
1.20 		Subd. 2.Eligibility for grants. (a) The commissioner of
1.21 	health shall make grants to agencies or organizations for the
1.22 	reasonable expenses of programs:
1.23 	(1) providing information on, referral to, and assistance
1.24 	in securing the services of relevant existing programs or
1.25 	agencies that assist women in carrying their pregnancies to term
2.1 	or providing services that assist women in carrying their
2.2 	pregnancies to term, including, but not limited to, agencies and
2.3 	programs that provide:
2.4 	(i) medical attention for the pregnant woman for the
2.5 	duration of her pregnancy;
2.6 	(ii) nutritional support services;
2.7 	(iii) housing assistance;
2.8 	(iv) adoption services;
2.9 	(v) education and employment assistance; and 
2.10 	(vi) parenting education and support services; and 
2.11 	(2) providing information or services to women, in person
2.12 	and through community outreach, that encourage and assist women
2.13 	in carrying their pregnancies to term.
2.14 	(b) To be eligible for a grant, an agency or organization
2.15 	must:
2.16 	(1) be a private, nonprofit corporation;
2.17 	(2) demonstrate that the program is conducted under
2.18 	appropriate supervision;
2.19 	(3) not charge women for services provided under the
2.20 	program;
2.21 	(4) provide each pregnant woman counseled with accurate
2.22 	information on the developmental characteristics of unborn
2.23 	children, including offering the printed information described
2.24 	in section 145.4243;
2.25 	(5) ensure that the program's sole purposes are to assist
2.26 	and encourage women in carrying their pregnancies to term and to
2.27 	maximize their potentials thereafter;
2.28 	(6) ensure that none of the funds provided are used to
2.29 	encourage or counsel a woman to have an abortion not necessary
2.30 	to prevent her death, to provide her such an abortion, or to
2.31 	refer her for such an abortion; and 
2.32 	(7) have had an alternatives to abortion program in
2.33 	existence for at least one year as of July 1, 2005.
2.34 	(c) The provisions, words, phrases, and clauses of
2.35 	paragraph (b) are inseverable from this subdivision, and if any
2.36 	provision, word, phrase, or clause of paragraph (b) or the
3.1 	application thereof to any person or circumstance is held
3.2 	invalid, such invalidity shall apply to all of this subdivision.
3.3 	(d) Any organization or an affiliate of an organization
3.4 	that provides abortions, promotes abortions, or directly refers
3.5 	for abortions is ineligible to receive a grant under this
3.6 	program.
3.7 		Subd. 3.Positive alternatives public information
3.8 	campaign. (a) The commissioner of health shall develop and
3.9 	carry out a statewide public information campaign to educate the
3.10 	public about:
3.11 	(1) the scientifically accurate developmental
3.12 	characteristics of the unborn child at various stages of
3.13 	gestation, including the information described in section
3.14 	145.4243, paragraph (a);
3.15 	(2) alternatives to having an abortion, including bringing
3.16 	a child to term to parent or for adoption;
3.17 	(3) the availability and importance of prenatal care,
3.18 	including how to obtain it;
3.19 	(4) the availability of adoption services, including how to
3.20 	start the process of making an adoption plan; and 
3.21 	(5) parenting and support services, including medical care,
3.22 	nutrition information, counseling, job training and assistance,
3.23 	education, and housing assistance.
3.24 	(b) The campaign may include the following, all of which
3.25 	materials must be objective, nonjudgmental, and designed to
3.26 	convey only accurate scientific information and must be designed
3.27 	to reach populations of different languages and of different
3.28 	social and economic backgrounds:
3.29 	(1) the preparation, publication, and dissemination of
3.30 	information, pamphlets, brochures, and other reports;
3.31 	(2) the preparation, maintenance, and promotion of
3.32 	informative Web sites; and 
3.33 	(3) the preparation and dissemination of advertising.
3.34 		Subd. 4.Appropriations. $4,000,000 is appropriated
3.35 	biannually to the commissioner of health to make grants
3.36 	according to subdivision 2.  $1,000,000 is appropriated
4.1 	biannually to the commissioner of health to implement
4.2 	subdivision 3.
4.3 		Subd. 5.Duties of commissioner. The commissioner of
4.4 	health shall make grants under subdivision 2 beginning no later
4.5 	than February 15, 2006, and biannually thereafter.  The
4.6 	commissioner shall monitor and review the programs of each
4.7 	grantee to ensure that the grantee carefully adheres to the
4.8 	purposes and requirements of subdivision 2 and shall cease
4.9 	funding a grantee that fails to do so.
4.10 		Subd. 6.Severability. Except as provided in subdivision
4.11 	2, paragraph (c), if any provision, word, phrase, or clause of
4.12 	this section or the application thereof to any person or
4.13 	circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect
4.14 	the provisions, words, phrases, clauses, or applications of this
4.15 	section that can be given effect without the invalid provision,
4.16 	word, phrase, clause, or application and to this end, the
4.17 	provisions, words, phrases, and clauses of this section are
4.18 	declared to be severable.
4.19 		Subd. 7.Supreme court jurisdiction. The Minnesota
4.20 	Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over an action
4.21 	challenging the constitutionality of this section and shall
4.22 	expedite the resolution of the action.