| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to exceptions to certain laws prohibiting abortion. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 170A.001(3), Health and Safety Code, is |
|
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(3) "Pregnant" means the [female] human reproductive |
|
|
condition of having an embryo or fetus develop [a living unborn |
|
|
child] within the human [female's] body [during the entire |
|
|
embryonic and fetal stages of the unborn child's development from |
|
|
fertilization until birth]. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 170A.002, Health and Safety Code, is |
|
|
amended by amending Subsections (b) and (d) and adding Subsection |
|
|
(e) to read as follows: |
|
|
(b) The prohibition under Subsection (a) does not apply if: |
|
|
(1) the person performing, inducing, or attempting the |
|
|
abortion is a licensed physician; and |
|
|
(2) in the physician's best [exercise of reasonable] |
|
|
medical judgment, the [pregnant female on whom the] abortion is |
|
|
medically indicated or: |
|
|
(A) necessary to preserve the pregnant patient's |
|
|
life and/or future fertility; |
|
|
(B) necessary to preserve the pregnant patient's |
|
|
physical or mental health; |
|
|
(C) requested because of a lethal fetal anomaly |
|
|
or diagnosis; or |
|
|
(D) requested because of a life-limiting |
|
|
diagnosis that indicates the existence of the fetus outside the |
|
|
womb is incompatible with life without extraordinary medical |
|
|
interventions [performed, induced, or attempted has a |
|
|
life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or |
|
|
arising from a pregnancy that places the female at risk of death or |
|
|
poses a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily |
|
|
function unless the abortion is performed or induced; and |
|
|
[(3) the person performs, induces, or attempts the |
|
|
abortion in a manner that, in the exercise of reasonable medical |
|
|
judgment, provides the best opportunity for the unborn child to |
|
|
survive unless, in the reasonable medical judgment, that manner |
|
|
would create: |
|
|
[(A) a greater risk of the pregnant female's |
|
|
death; or |
|
|
[(B) a serious risk of substantial impairment of |
|
|
a major bodily function of the pregnant female]. |
|
|
(d) Medical treatment provided to the pregnant patient |
|
|
[female] by a licensed physician that results in the accidental or |
|
|
unintentional injury or death of the embryo or fetus [unborn child] |
|
|
does not constitute a violation of this section. |
|
|
(e) Each abortion permitted under an exception provided by |
|
|
this section must be considered independently by the treating |
|
|
physician and the pregnant patient or the patient's health care |
|
|
proxy. A medical review process may not override a determination by |
|
|
a physician and a pregnant patient or the patient's health care |
|
|
proxy to perform, induce, or attempt an abortion permitted under an |
|
|
exception provided by this section. |
|
|
SECTION 3. Section 170A.003, Health and Safety Code, is |
|
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 170A.003. CONSTRUCTION OF CHAPTER. This chapter may |
|
|
not be construed to authorize the imposition of criminal, civil, or |
|
|
administrative liability or penalties on a pregnant patient |
|
|
[female] on whom an abortion is performed, induced, or attempted. |
|
|
SECTION 4. Sections 170A.001(2) and 170A.002(c), Health and |
|
|
Safety Code, are repealed. |
|
|
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |