AUSTIN – Today the Texas Senate voted 22-9 to strengthen reporting of medical complications from abortions. Authored by Senator Campbell, an emergency room physician, Senate Bill 1602 requires that certain health care facilities report complications from abortions and for the Department of State Health Services to publish this data in an annual report.

“Good reporting of medical data ensures the best standard of care is being met,” said Senator Campbell. “Much of this information is already collected, but it is not being reported and aggregated in a way in which the Department of State Health Services can truly track patient care. Senate Bill 1602 improves the reporting process to protect the safety of women.”

The Texas Health and Safety Code currently requires health care facilities to report surgical site infections and complications from various procedures in order to track the standard of care. However, there are no current specific reporting requirements in statute for complications resulting from an abortion.

While Senator Campbell is a pro-life conservative, she says she believes good medical data is important no matter which side of the abortion issue a person resides. “Data is not biased and we can learn a lot from what the data tells us if we just make the effort to collect it,” Sen. Campbell said. “That’s in the best interest of all women.”

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State Senator Donna Campbell chairs the Veteran Affairs and Border Security Committee and is a member of the Education Committee.