Bill clarifying when doctors can perform medically necessary abortions clears Senate

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The Texas Senate unanimously approved a bill Tuesday that aims to clarify when doctors can perform an abortion under the state’s near-total ban. The bill, which is backed by anti-abortion groups, medical and hospital associations and a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers, will go next to the House.

Senate Bill 31 comes amid a deluge of stories of women dying or nearly dying after being denied medically necessary abortions by doctors who were confused by the law or too fearful of the strict penalties to intervene. Texas’ laws ban all abortions except to save the life of the pregnant patient.

“Because of cases like that, we all thought it is important that the law be crystal clear,” bill author Sen. Bryan Hughes, a Mineola Republican, said on the floor. “We don't have any reason for hesitation, and we want to make sure the doctors are trained on what the law is.”

Rather than expanding exceptions, this bill clarifies when exactly a doctor can legally provide an abortion under the existing laws. The version of the bill that passed the Senate says a patient must be facing a life-threatening condition caused or exacerbated by pregnancy, but specifies that their death does not need to be imminent before a doctor can perform an abortion. It aligns definitions between the state’s three abortion bans, codifies court rulings and requires doctors and lawyers to undergo training on the laws.

The bill was tightly negotiated between anti-abortion groups and medical associations, and faced pushback from some Democrats who wanted to see the bill go further to extend abortion access. Houston Sen. Molly Cook voted in favor of the bill, but said it was difficult to swallow this narrow change as a victory.

“It's just hard because the folks who are working on this fix are, from my perspective, the folks who have created the problem,” she said. “Over the past four years, we've watched women suffer and die, and this bill is the confirmation that we all agree that something is broken in Texas.”

Sen. Carol Alvarado, a Houston Democrat, said she was hoping to see exceptions added to the law for cases of rape or incest, and patients facing lethal fetal diagnoses.

“I believe this bill will save lives, which is why I am supporting it, not only supporting it, but co-sponsor with you,” she said to Hughes on the floor. “I hope that we can come back and do the same for women who are dealing with devastating fetal anomalies, and women and girls who survived the horror of rape or incest. Texas women deserve better.”

San Antonio Sen. Roland Gutierrez said if his daughter told him she had been raped and was pregnant, he would “do whatever I needed to do to save my daughter so she wouldn’t have to see that rapist every day for the rest of her life.”

“We have the power to do that here today,” Gutierrez said to Hughes. “You don't want to do it.”

Hughes countered that the Legislature shouldn’t support punishing “the little unborn baby because of the horrible act of the rapist.”

Earlier in the session, some abortion supporters raised concerns that this bill would reanimate the state’s pre-Roe statutes, which allow for the person who has an abortion to face criminal charges, as well as those who “furnish the means” for a prohibited abortion.

These laws are stuck in a legal limbo, with abortion advocates arguing the laws are unenforceable and abortion opponents arguing they are fully in effect. SB 31 was amended to say it was neutral on that question, pending forthcoming court rulings on the subject, and specifically said women who had abortions could not face criminal charges under this bill.

Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, an Austin Democrat, pushed Hughes on why he didn’t want those statutes repealed, which he sidestepped.

“That would take a vote of both houses and the governor's signature,” he said. “But yes, you're correct, this bill does not seek to repeal those pre-Roe statues. That's definitely correct.”

Speaking through tears, Eckhardt said she was voting for the bill, but stressed that the state’s abortion laws are “no less cruel for being more clear.”

“I want to believe this bill will make things better, because it's hard to believe that things could be much worse,” she said.

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