This website will be unavailable from Friday, April 26, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. through Monday, April 29, 2024 at 7:00 a.m. due to data center maintenance.

  82R7133 GCB-D
 
  By: Miller of Comal H.B. No. 1243
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the creation of the criminal offense of ingesting a
  controlled substance while pregnant or introducing a controlled
  substance into the body of a person who is pregnant and the
  consequences of the commission of that offense in a suit affecting
  the parent-child relationship.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Chapter 22, Penal Code, is amended by adding
  Section 22.042 to read as follows:
         Sec. 22.042.  INGESTING CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE WHILE PREGNANT
  OR INTRODUCING CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE INTO BODY OF PERSON WHO IS
  PREGNANT. (a) A person commits an offense if the person
  intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly:
               (1)  ingests a controlled substance while pregnant; or
               (2)  introduces a controlled substance into the body of
  a person who is pregnant.
         (b)  An offense under this section is a state jail felony.
         (c)  It is a defense to prosecution under this section that
  the actor ingested a controlled substance while pregnant or
  introduced a controlled substance into the body of a person who is
  pregnant at the direction of or pursuant to a prescription issued by
  a licensed physician.
         (d)  It is a defense to prosecution under this section that,
  at the time the actor engaged in the conduct constituting the
  offense, the actor reasonably believed the actor or person into
  whose body the actor introduced the controlled substance, as
  applicable, was not pregnant.
         (e)  Section 22.12 does not apply to conduct constituting an
  offense under this section.
         (f)  In this section, "prescription" has the meaning
  assigned by Section 481.002, Health and Safety Code.
         SECTION 2.  Section 161.001, Family Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 161.001.  INVOLUNTARY TERMINATION OF PARENT-CHILD
  RELATIONSHIP. The court may order termination of the parent-child
  relationship if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence:
               (1)  that the parent has:
                     (A)  voluntarily left the child alone or in the
  possession of another not the parent and expressed an intent not to
  return;
                     (B)  voluntarily left the child alone or in the
  possession of another not the parent without expressing an intent
  to return, without providing for the adequate support of the child,
  and remained away for a period of at least three months;
                     (C)  voluntarily left the child alone or in the
  possession of another without providing adequate support of the
  child and remained away for a period of at least six months;
                     (D)  knowingly placed or knowingly allowed the
  child to remain in conditions or surroundings which endanger the
  physical or emotional well-being of the child;
                     (E)  engaged in conduct or knowingly placed the
  child with persons who engaged in conduct which endangers the
  physical or emotional well-being of the child;
                     (F)  failed to support the child in accordance
  with the parent's ability during a period of one year ending within
  six months of the date of the filing of the petition;
                     (G)  abandoned the child without identifying the
  child or furnishing means of identification, and the child's
  identity cannot be ascertained by the exercise of reasonable
  diligence;
                     (H)  voluntarily, and with knowledge of the
  pregnancy, abandoned the mother of the child beginning at a time
  during her pregnancy with the child and continuing through the
  birth, failed to provide adequate support or medical care for the
  mother during the period of abandonment before the birth of the
  child, and remained apart from the child or failed to support the
  child since the birth;
                     (I)  contumaciously refused to submit to a
  reasonable and lawful order of a court under Subchapter D, Chapter
  261;
                     (J)  been the major cause of:
                           (i)  the failure of the child to be enrolled
  in school as required by the Education Code; or
                           (ii)  the child's absence from the child's
  home without the consent of the parents or guardian for a
  substantial length of time or without the intent to return;
                     (K)  executed before or after the suit is filed an
  unrevoked or irrevocable affidavit of relinquishment of parental
  rights as provided by this chapter;
                     (L)  been convicted or has been placed on
  community supervision, including deferred adjudication community
  supervision, for being criminally responsible for the death or
  serious injury of a child under the following sections of the Penal
  Code or adjudicated under Title 3 for conduct that caused the death
  or serious injury of a child and that would constitute a violation
  of one of the following Penal Code sections:
                           (i)  Section 19.02 (murder);
                           (ii)  Section 19.03 (capital murder);
                           (iii)  Section 19.04 (manslaughter);
                           (iv)  Section 21.11 (indecency with a
  child);
                           (v)  Section 22.01 (assault);
                           (vi)  Section 22.011 (sexual assault);
                           (vii)  Section 22.02 (aggravated assault);
                           (viii)  Section 22.021 (aggravated sexual
  assault);
                           (ix)  Section 22.04 (injury to a child,
  elderly individual, or disabled individual);
                           (x)  Section 22.041 (abandoning or
  endangering child);
                           (xi)  Section 25.02 (prohibited sexual
  conduct);
                           (xii)  Section 43.25 (sexual performance by
  a child);
                           (xiii)  Section 43.26 (possession or
  promotion of child pornography); [and]
                           (xiv)  Section 21.02 (continuous sexual
  abuse of young child or children); and
                           (xv)  Section 22.042(a)(1) (ingesting a
  controlled substance while pregnant);
                     (M)  had his or her parent-child relationship
  terminated with respect to another child based on a finding that the
  parent's conduct was in violation of Paragraph (D) or (E) or
  substantially equivalent provisions of the law of another state;
                     (N)  constructively abandoned the child who has
  been in the permanent or temporary managing conservatorship of the
  Department of Family and Protective Services or an authorized
  agency for not less than six months, and:
                           (i)  the department or authorized agency has
  made reasonable efforts to return the child to the parent;
                           (ii)  the parent has not regularly visited
  or maintained significant contact with the child; and
                           (iii)  the parent has demonstrated an
  inability to provide the child with a safe environment;
                     (O)  failed to comply with the provisions of a
  court order that specifically established the actions necessary for
  the parent to obtain the return of the child who has been in the
  permanent or temporary managing conservatorship of the Department
  of Family and Protective Services for not less than nine months as a
  result of the child's removal from the parent under Chapter 262 for
  the abuse or neglect of the child;
                     (P)  used a controlled substance, as defined by
  Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, in a manner that endangered the
  health or safety of the child, and:
                           (i)  failed to complete a court-ordered
  substance abuse treatment program; or
                           (ii)  after completion of a court-ordered
  substance abuse treatment program, continued to abuse a controlled
  substance;
                     (Q)  knowingly engaged in criminal conduct that
  has resulted in the parent's:
                           (i)  conviction of an offense; and
                           (ii)  confinement or imprisonment and
  inability to care for the child for not less than two years from the
  date of filing the petition;
                     (R)  been the cause of the child being born
  addicted to alcohol or a controlled substance, other than a
  controlled substance legally obtained by prescription, as defined
  by Section 261.001;
                     (S)  voluntarily delivered the child to a
  designated emergency infant care provider under Section 262.302
  without expressing an intent to return for the child; or
                     (T)  been convicted of:
                           (i)  the murder of the other parent of the
  child under Section 19.02 or 19.03, Penal Code, or under a law of
  another state, federal law, the law of a foreign country, or the
  Uniform Code of Military Justice that contains elements that are
  substantially similar to the elements of an offense under Section
  19.02 or 19.03, Penal Code;
                           (ii)  criminal attempt under Section 15.01,
  Penal Code, or under a law of another state, federal law, the law of
  a foreign country, or the Uniform Code of Military Justice that
  contains elements that are substantially similar to the elements of
  an offense under Section 15.01, Penal Code, to commit the offense
  described by Subparagraph (i); or
                           (iii)  criminal solicitation under Section
  15.03, Penal Code, or under a law of another state, federal law, the
  law of a foreign country, or the Uniform Code of Military Justice
  that contains elements that are substantially similar to the
  elements of an offense under Section 15.03, Penal Code, of the
  offense described by Subparagraph (i); and
               (2)  that termination is in the best interest of the
  child.
         SECTION 3.  Section 262.2015(b), Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (b)  The court may find under Subsection (a) that a parent
  has subjected the child to aggravated circumstances if:
               (1)  the parent abandoned the child without
  identification or a means for identifying the child;
               (2)  the child is a victim of serious bodily injury or
  sexual abuse inflicted by the parent or by another person with the
  parent's consent;
               (3)  the parent has engaged in conduct against the
  child that would constitute an offense under the following
  provisions of the Penal Code:
                     (A)  Section 19.02 (murder);
                     (B)  Section 19.03 (capital murder);
                     (C)  Section 19.04 (manslaughter);
                     (D)  Section 21.11 (indecency with a child);
                     (E)  Section 22.011 (sexual assault);
                     (F)  Section 22.02 (aggravated assault);
                     (G)  Section 22.021 (aggravated sexual assault);
                     (H)  Section 22.04 (injury to a child, elderly
  individual, or disabled individual);
                     (I)  Section 22.041 (abandoning or endangering
  child);
                     (J)  Section 25.02 (prohibited sexual conduct);
                     (K)  Section 43.25 (sexual performance by a
  child);
                     (L)  Section 43.26 (possession or promotion of
  child pornography); [or]
                     (M)  Section 21.02 (continuous sexual abuse of
  young child or children); or
                     (N)  Section 22.042(a)(1) (ingesting a controlled
  substance while pregnant);
               (4)  the parent voluntarily left the child alone or in
  the possession of another person not the parent of the child for at
  least six months without expressing an intent to return and without
  providing adequate support for the child;
               (5)  the parent's parental rights with regard to
  another child have been involuntarily terminated based on a finding
  that the parent's conduct violated Section 161.001(1)(D) or (E) or
  a substantially equivalent provision of another state's law;
               (6)  the parent has been convicted for:
                     (A)  the murder of another child of the parent and
  the offense would have been an offense under 18 U.S.C. Section
  1111(a) if the offense had occurred in the special maritime or
  territorial jurisdiction of the United States;
                     (B)  the voluntary manslaughter of another child
  of the parent and the offense would have been an offense under 18
  U.S.C. Section 1112(a) if the offense had occurred in the special
  maritime or territorial jurisdiction of the United States;
                     (C)  aiding or abetting, attempting, conspiring,
  or soliciting an offense under Subdivision (A) or (B); or
                     (D)  the felony assault of the child or another
  child of the parent that resulted in serious bodily injury to the
  child or another child of the parent; or
               (7)  the parent's parental rights with regard to two
  other children have been involuntarily terminated.
         SECTION 4.  The change in law made by this Act to Section
  262.2015, Family Code, applies only to a suit affecting the
  parent-child relationship that is filed on or after the effective
  date of this Act.  A suit filed before the effective date of this Act
  is governed by the law in effect on the date the suit was filed, and
  the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.