republic-os/legislation/us/states/in/2020/hb-1243.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Genetic counselors."
description: "Amends the definition of \"genetic counseling\" for purposes of the genetic counselor licensing laws. Requires the genetic counselor master's degree training program to be accredited by the Accreditation Council for Genetic Counselors. (Current law requires accreditation by the American Board of Genetic Counseling.) Updates references to the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics. Amends requirements for a temporary license. Requires an applicant to complete the continuing education requirements of certain certifying organizations to renew a license. Provides that a genetic counselor may not be required to perform, participate in, or provide a service that violates any sincerely held ethical, moral, or religious belief held by the genetic counselor, and allows for a civil action for damages or reinstatement of employment for a violation. Repeals the law concerning education hardship waiver provision."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 1243"
citation: "Indiana HB 1243 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["LICENSES AND LICENSING", "HUMAN SERVICES", "Regulation and Licensing of Professionals"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ann Vermilion", "Ronald Grooms", "Vaneta Becker"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 24
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2020-01-13"
last_action: "2020-03-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/2402f532-5ba5-4bf9-a13a-8542ab0ebb5f"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2020/bills/house/1243"
source_hash: "4483d434f0c791ccb83c9077321606e7b69025304c26e03770ecad821c697549"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-in"]
---

# Indiana HB 1243 (2020) — Genetic counselors.

Amends the definition of "genetic counseling" for purposes of the genetic counselor licensing laws. Requires the genetic counselor master's degree training program to be accredited by the Accreditation Council for Genetic Counselors. (Current law requires accreditation by the American Board of Genetic Counseling.) Updates references to the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics. Amends requirements for a temporary license. Requires an applicant to complete the continuing education requirements of certain certifying organizations to renew a license. Provides that a genetic counselor may not be required to perform, participate in, or provide a service that violates any sincerely held ethical, moral, or religious belief held by the genetic counselor, and allows for a civil action for damages or reinstatement of employment for a violation. Repeals the law concerning education hardship waiver provision.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Engrossed House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/HB1243/versions/HB1243.04.ENGS)
2. **Enrolled House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/HB1243/versions/HB1243.05.ENRS)
3. **House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/HB1243/versions/HB1243.02.COMH)
4. **House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/HB1243/versions/HB1243.03.COMS)
5. **Introduced House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/HB1243/versions/HB1243.01.INTR)

## Votes

- HB 1243 - Vermilion A - 3rd Reading — **96–2** (pass) · lower
- HB 1243 - Becker - 3rd Reading — **42–3** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Ann Vermilion — primary (person)
- Ronald Grooms — primary (person)
- Vaneta Becker — primary (person)
- Cindy Kirchhofer — coauthor (person)
- Jean Breaux — cosponsor (person)
- Robin Shackleford — coauthor (person)
- Ronald Bacon — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-13** Coauthored by Representative Kirchhofer
- **2020-01-13** Authored by Representative Vermilion
- **2020-01-13** First reading: referred to Committee on Public Health `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2020-01-23** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-27** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-01-27** Representatives Shackleford and Bacon added as coauthors
- **2020-01-28** Senate sponsor: Senator Becker
- **2020-01-28** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 97: yeas 96, nays 2 `reading-3, passage`
- **2020-01-29** Referred to the Senate
- **2020-02-11** First reading: referred to Committee on Health and Provider Services `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2020-02-20** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-24** Amendment #1 (Brown L) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage, amendment-failure`
- **2020-02-24** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-02-24** Senator Grooms added as second sponsor
- **2020-02-24** Senator Breaux added as cosponsor
- **2020-02-25** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 246: yeas 42, nays 3 `reading-3, passage`
- **2020-02-26** Returned to the House with amendments `amendment-failure`
- **2020-03-04** Motion to concur filed
- **2020-03-04** House concurred in Senate amendments; Roll Call 315: yeas 58, nays 26 `amendment-failure`
- **2020-03-05** Signed by the Speaker
- **2020-03-09** Signed by the President Pro Tempore
- **2020-03-18** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2020-03-18** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2020-03-30** Public Law 118

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/2402f532-5ba5-4bf9-a13a-8542ab0ebb5f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).