19-03-2025
House committee approves bill allowing health care workers to refuse blood draws
Rep. Phillip Rigsby, R-Huntsville, speaks to colleagues on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on Feb. 11, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. Rigsby's bill would allow health care providers to refuse blood draws for suspected drunk driving without a court order. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)
The Alabama House Health Committee Wednesday approved a bill clarifying health care providers can refuse to draw blood in alleged drunk driving situations.
HB 391, sponsored by Rep. Phillip Rigsby, R-Huntsville, aims to address a 'misinterpretation' of previous legislation that some believed required paramedics and other health care providers to comply with all law enforcement blood draw requests. The bill says that health care providers may refuse to draw blood at the direction of law enforcement except when required by a court order.
'That was kind of misinterpreted, and misinterpreted in the sense that they must draw that blood,' Rigsby said to the committee.
Rigsby said that under the bill, health care providers on the scene or at an ambulance station have the discretion to decline a request, allowing law enforcement to transport the individual to a hospital for testing instead.
Rep. Frances Holk-Jones, R-Foley, asked if there would be a time limit to perform the test, asking how long people usually stay intoxicated. Rigsby acknowledged said blood-alcohol content testing is time-sensitive but said that factors such as liver function, hydration, and food intake affect how long substances remain detectable in an individual's system.
The bill passed on a voice vote and goes to the full House for further consideration.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
