Proposal to clarify when Texas doctors can perform life-saving abortions faces critical vote

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The House is slated to vote on a bill to clarify Texas’ near-total abortion ban Wednesday, after it passed the Senate unanimously last month. The bill is expected to garner bipartisan support, despite some concerns from both sides of the aisle.

Texas banned all abortions three years ago, with a narrow exception that allows doctors to terminate a pregnancy only to save a pregnant patient’s life. Immediately, doctors and legal experts warned that this exception was too narrow and vaguely written, and the penalties too severe, to ensure that women could get life-saving care.

That has proven true in many cases. Dozens of women have come forward with stories of medically necessary abortions delayed or denied, and at least three women have died as a result of these laws. Faced with these stories, Republican lawmakers have conceded that the language of the law might need some clearing up.

Senate Bill 31, also called the Life of the Mother Act, does not expand the exceptions or restore abortion access. It instead aims to clarify when a doctor can terminate a pregnancy under the existing exceptions by aligning language between the state’s abortion laws, codifying court rulings and requiring education for doctors and lawyers on the nuances of the law.

The bill was tightly negotiated among lobbyists for doctors and hospitals, anti-abortion groups and Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Bryan Hughes of Mineola and Rep. Charlie Geren of Fort Worth, who carried the bill.

“All of these groups are going to, with one voice, tell the medical community and moms and everyone else, ‘Here’s the law in Texas. It’s clear. Let’s follow the law,’” Hughes said on the Senate floor in late April.

In the Senate, Republicans threw their support behind the bill, while Democrats pushed back on its narrowness, noting that Texas law still does not allow abortions in cases of rape, incest or lethal fetal anomalies.

“The folks who are working on this fix are, from my perspective, the folks who have created the problem,” said Houston Sen. Molly Cook. “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.”

In the House, however, the bill may face headwinds from both directions. In a committee hearing last month, some conservative Republicans raised concerns that this bill offered a loophole enabling doctors to work around the strict limits of the law.

Rep. Mike Olcott, a Fort Worth Republican, asked what would prevent doctors from “checking a box” to say a patient’s life was in danger to provide “abortion on demand,” a sentiment echoed by other conservatives on the committee.

The bill’s architects have been careful to say this is not a “choice” bill, but rather a bill aimed at addressing doctors’ liability and pregnant women’s health needs.

“I have voted for every anti-abortion bill that’s been in front of the House since I’ve been here for 24 years,” Geren said at the committee. “This is not a choice bill. This is a protect-the-mothers’-life bill.”

Some doctors groups, including the Texas chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, have criticized the bill for not going far enough to protect doctors and the patients they treat. Others say these changes will be sufficient to free doctors to perform medically necessary abortions without fear of lengthy prison sentences and massive fines.

“At the end of the day, our hope is that political differences can be set aside, because at the heart of this is a pregnant mother whose health and safety are on the line,” Texas Hospital Association president John Hawkins said in a statement. “Hospitals and doctors need to be able to act on the medical facts and merits in front of them, without fear of prosecution. We sincerely believe this will have an immediate and positive impact, helping us provide life-saving care to our patients.”

The House will also hear Senate Bill 33 on Wednesday, which prohibits a city or county from using taxpayer dollars to pay for abortion-related expenses. The bill is aimed at Austin and San Antonio, where city officials have allocated budget dollars to support abortion funds that help pay for people to travel to abortion clinics out-of-state.

Disclosure: Texas Hospital Association has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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