Texas lawmakers introduced a bill on Wednesday to clarify Medical exceptions Under one of the strictest abortion bans in the United States, the proposal to support Republican Party is placed on the edge of reaching the table of Republican Governor Greg Abbott.
The changes will not expand abortion visits in Texas or abortion visits under specific medical exceptions that are almost entirely prohibited in the state, which goes into effect in 2022 and only allows abortion to save mothers’ lives. It also does not include exceptions to rape or incest cases.
But the proposal remains a hub in Texas RepublicansOver the years, they defended the law for a clear defense of healthcare providers in the face of legal challenges and requests. DemocratsMeanwhile, the bill calls the bill a positive step, but also faces criticism from some abortion rights allies, who have questions about what their impact on it, if any.
The bill would designate doctors not to face criminal charges in medical emergencies that cause serious physical damage in medical emergencies. It also defines the “life-threatening” condition as a condition that can lead to death.
Senate Bill 31 passed 129-6, requiring only the final procedure to vote before reaching Abbott to express support for the measure.
North Texas Doctors Feel Differently
Three years ago, Dr. Austin Denard Traveling outside Texas for abortion Her fetus was diagnosed with a fatal condition. Later, she testified in the lawsuit that the state’s almost entirely ban on abortion.
Danard’s feelings about the bill are mixed, which does not list specific medical conditions or include fatal fetal abnormalities as exceptions.
“What is now widely known among practitioners in Texas is that abortion is illegal,” said Dennard, an obese person in Dallas. “It will be difficult to eliminate a broad understanding.”
Clarifying the medical exemption
Legislators in at least nine states’ abortion ban try to change or clarify medical exceptions, allowing doctors to do abortion if their mother’s life is at risk, because Roev. Wade was overthrown According to Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights, about three years ago.
Supporters of the bills say they have the potential to save lives. Critics, including some abortion rights groups, have questioned whether they make the state abortion laws easier to understand.
In Kentucky, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear vetoed a bill earlier this year, with Republican lawmakers touting the clarity of the state’s almost complete miscarriage ban, saying it won’t protect pregnant women. Republican lawmakers later vetoed his veto.
Last year, South Dakota released a video targeting doctors outlining examples of acceptable medical emergencies that have been criticized by abortion rights proponents because they weren’t specific enough.
“I think these bills are trying to determine the exceptions are really hard to comply with,” said Kimya Forouzan, chief national policy adviser for Guttmacher Institute.
Nevertheless, Sen. Bryan Hughes, a Texas Republican architect for the state’s abortion ban, said the goal of the new bill is to avoid confusion among doctors.
“One of the most important things we have to do is make sure doctors, hospitals and hospital lawyers are trained in the law,” Hughes said.
Navigate exceptions under abortion ban
In 2024, the Texas Supreme Court ruled against Dennard and a group of women who said they were denied an abortion after suffering severe pregnancy complications that threatened their lives and childbirth. The court ruled that the state’s law was clear in allowing doctors to perform abortions to save their mother’s life.
Texas efforts highlight the challenge that abortion opponents must navigate medical exceptions, says Mary Ziegler, a U.S. abortion politics historian Mary Ziegler, a professor at the University of California’s Davis School of Law.
For example, in the exception, judges held Utah’s abortion ban, for example, they conducted two Oklahoma bans in medical exceptions – although most abortions in the state remain illegal.
Ziegler said it is tricky for abortion opponents to make legislation that does two things.
“Can you provide clear guidance on when there is no doctor’s discretion to provide an abortion that they believe is not an emergency?” Ziegler said.
Texas may push for other anti-abortion laws
Texas bans nearly all abortions except Save your mother’s lifeif an abortion is illegal, the doctor can be fined up to $100,000 and face up to 99 years in prison.
Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office filed criminal charges against midwife for allegedly providing illegal abortion, too Sued New York doctors Prescribe abortion pills for Texas women.
Texas Republicans are also working to make it a civil offence for mailing, delivering or manufacturing abortion pills, and have expanded the law allowing private individuals to sue others they suspect are helping women with abortions.
