89R13357 JG-D

By: Johnson S.B. No. 1521

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the regulation of abortion and related matters, including the repeal of certain abortion laws, a deposition request before filing certain civil actions, and municipal or county authority to prohibit movement.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Chapter 20, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is amended by adding Section 20.003 to read as follows:

Sec. 20.003. DEPOSITION REQUEST BEFORE FILING ACTION. (a) Subject to Subsection (b), a person may petition a court for an order authorizing the conduct of a deposition on oral examination or written questions to:

(1) perpetuate or obtain the person's own testimony or another person's testimony for use in an anticipated action; or

(2) investigate a potential claim or action.

(b) A person may not petition the court for a deposition described by Subsection (a) if the person has not sustained or will not reasonably expect to sustain actual damages in the person's anticipated or potential claim or action.

(c) A person who files a petition in violation of this section is liable to each person attempted to be deposed in the petition for that person's attorney's fees incurred in defending against the petition.

(d) Notwithstanding Section 22.004, Government Code, this section may not be modified or repealed by a rule adopted by the supreme court.

SECTION 2. The heading to Section 151.002, Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 151.002. RIGHTS OF A LIVING CHILD AFTER AN ABORTION OR PREMATURE BIRTH[; CIVIL PENALTY; CRIMINAL OFFENSE].

SECTION 3. Section 311.036, Government Code, is amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:

(d) A statute regulating or prohibiting abortion may not be construed to authorize the imposition or incurrence of criminal, civil, or administrative penalties or liability on a pregnant individual on whom an abortion is performed, induced, or attempted.

SECTION 4. Section 170.002(c), Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

(c) A physician who performs an abortion that, according to the physician's best medical judgment at the time of the abortion, is to abort a viable unborn child during the third trimester of the pregnancy shall certify in writing to the commission, on a form prescribed by the commission, the medical indications supporting the physician's judgment that the abortion was authorized by Subsection (b)(2) or (3). [If the physician certifies the abortion was authorized by Subsection (b)(3), the physician shall certify in writing on the form the fetal abnormality identified by the physician.] The certification must be made not later than the 30th day after the date the abortion was performed.

SECTION 5. Subchapter A, Chapter 171, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Section 171.009 to read as follows:

Sec. 171.009. TRAVEL ASSISTANCE TO OBTAIN ABORTION OUTSIDE STATE. Notwithstanding any other law, a person may provide to an individual direct or indirect assistance for traveling outside of this state to obtain an abortion.

SECTION 6. Section 171.061, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Subdivision (3) and amending Subdivision (8-a) to read as follows:

(3) "Final printed label" means the informational document the United States Food and Drug Administration approves for an abortion-inducing drug that:

(A) outlines the protocol authorized by that agency and agreed to by the drug company applying for authorization of the drug by that agency; and

(B) delineates the manner in which a drug is to be used according to approval by that agency.

(8-a) "Provide" means, as used with regard to abortion-inducing drugs, any act of giving, selling, dispensing, administering, [transferring possession,] or otherwise providing or prescribing an abortion-inducing drug.

SECTION 7. Subchapter D, Chapter 171, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Section 171.0611 to read as follows:

Sec. 171.0611. EFFECT OF OTHER LAWS; LOCAL REGULATION. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, a physician may provide an abortion-inducing drug to a pregnant individual in accordance with this subchapter. To the extent a provision of this subchapter conflicts with any other law, this subchapter controls.

(b) A political subdivision may not adopt or enforce an ordinance, order, or other measure that conflicts with this section.

SECTION 8. Section 171.063, Health and Safety Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a), (c), and (e) and adding Subsection (b) to read as follows:

(a) A person may not knowingly provide an abortion-inducing drug to a pregnant woman for the purpose of inducing an abortion in the pregnant woman or enabling another person to induce an abortion in the pregnant woman unless:

(1) the person who provides the abortion-inducing drug is a physician; and

(2) except as otherwise provided by Subsection (b), the provision of the abortion-inducing drug satisfies the protocol tested and authorized by the United States Food and Drug Administration as outlined in the final printed label of the abortion-inducing drug [this subchapter].

(b) A person may provide the abortion-inducing drug in the dosage amount the clinical management guidelines prescribe in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Practice Bulletin as those guidelines existed on January 1, 2013.

(c) Before the physician provides an abortion-inducing drug, the physician must:

(1) examine the pregnant woman [in person]; and

(2) [independently verify that a pregnancy exists;

[(3)] document, in the woman's medical record, the gestational age and intrauterine location of the pregnancy [to determine whether an ectopic pregnancy exists;

[(4) determine the pregnant woman's blood type, and for a woman who is Rh negative, offer to administer Rh immunoglobulin (RhoGAM) at the time the abortion-inducing drug is administered or used or the abortion is performed or induced to prevent Rh incompatibility, complications, or miscarriage in future pregnancies;

[(5) document whether the pregnant woman received treatment for Rh negativity, as diagnosed by the most accurate standard of medical care; and

[(6) ensure the physician does not provide an abortion-inducing drug for a pregnant woman whose pregnancy is more than 49 days of gestational age].

(e) A physician who provides the abortion-inducing drug, or the physician's agent, must schedule a follow-up visit for the woman to occur not later than the 14th day after the administration [earliest date on which the abortion-inducing drug is administered] or use of the abortion-inducing drug [used or the abortion is performed or induced]. At the follow-up visit, the physician must:

(1) confirm that the woman's pregnancy is completely terminated; and

(2) assess any continued blood loss.

SECTION 9. Section 171.206(b), Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) This subchapter may not be construed to:

(1) authorize the initiation of a cause of action against or the prosecution of a woman on whom an abortion is performed or induced or attempted to be performed or induced in violation of this subchapter;

(2) wholly or partly repeal, either expressly or by implication, any other statute that regulates or prohibits abortion[, including Chapter 6-1/2, Title 71, Revised Statutes]; or

(3) restrict a political subdivision from regulating or prohibiting abortion in a manner that is at least as stringent as the laws of this state.

SECTION 10. Section 171.207(b), Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) Subsection (a) may not be construed to:

(1) legalize the conduct prohibited by this subchapter [or by Chapter 6-1/2, Title 71, Revised Statutes];

(2) limit in any way or affect the availability of a remedy established by Section 171.208; or

(3) limit the enforceability of any other laws that regulate or prohibit abortion.

SECTION 11. Section 171.208, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:

(a-1) A civil action under Subsection (a)(2) or (3) may not be brought against a person for providing or intending to provide to an individual direct or indirect assistance for traveling outside of this state to obtain an abortion.

SECTION 12. Title 14, Local Government Code, is amended by adding Subtitle C to read as follows:

SUBTITLE C. TRANSPORTATION PROVISIONS APPLYING TO MORE THAN ONE

TYPE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

CHAPTER 651. TRAVEL PROHIBITIONS

Sec. 651.001. TRAVEL PROHIBITIONS. A municipality or county may not adopt or enforce an ordinance, order, or other measure that prohibits the travel of a person through the municipality or county based on any purpose for the travel.

SECTION 13. The following provisions are repealed:

(1) Subchapter L, Chapter 74, Civil Practice and Remedies Code;

(2) Sections 151.002(c), (d), (e), (f), and (g), Family Code;

(3) Section 2273.005, Government Code;

(4) Chapter 170A, Health and Safety Code;

(5) Section 171.006, Health and Safety Code, as added by Chapter 4 (H.B. 13), Acts of the 85th Legislature, First Called Session, 2017;

(6) Section 171.006, Health and Safety Code, as added by Chapter 9 (H.B. 215), Acts of the 85th Legislature, First Called Session, 2017;

(7) Section 171.061(2-a), Health and Safety Code;

(8) Section 171.063(b-1), Health and Safety Code;

(9) Section 171.0631, Health and Safety Code;

(10) Section 171.0632, Health and Safety Code;

(11) Section 171.065, Health and Safety Code;

(12) Section 171.066, Health and Safety Code;

(13) Chapter 1218, Insurance Code;

(14) Subtitle M, Title 8, Insurance Code;

(15) Section 9.35, Penal Code; and

(16) Chapter 6-1/2, Title 71, Revised Statutes.

SECTION 14. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to an abortion performed or induced on or after the effective date of this Act. An abortion performed or induced before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law applicable to the abortion immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 15. (a) Except as otherwise provided by this section, the changes in law made by this Act apply only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.

(b) An offense under Section 171.065, Health and Safety Code, as repealed by this Act, or Chapter 6-1/2, Title 71, Revised Statutes, as repealed by this Act, may not be prosecuted after the effective date of this Act. If on the effective date of this Act a criminal action is pending for an offense under one of those provisions, the action is dismissed on that date. However, a final conviction for an offense under those provisions that exists on the effective date of this Act is unaffected by this Act.

SECTION 16. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.