Texas clarified when abortions are OK and aligned with RFK Jr. on health this legislative session

House Bill 1586 allows anyone the ability to download a vaccine exemption vaccine exemption form at home. The form allows children to be exempted from being vaccinated to attend public schools. Currently, parents have to contact the Texas Department of State of Health Services and request the exemption form be mailed to them. Critics of the bill fear it would allow vaccine exemptions to flourish, as the state grapples with declining vaccination rates, but proponents say the bill is only meant to make it easier for parents to access a form.

Other vaccine skeptic measures that passed include HB 4076 which bars making patients ineligible as organ transplant recipients solely based on their vaccination status and Senate Bill 269 which requires providers to report patients’ vaccine complications to the national Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.

HB 4535 requires health care providers obtain informed consent from patients before a COVID-19 vaccine is administered and that patients receive notice about possible side effects.

Two nutrition bills dubbed Make Texas Healthy Again bills passed.

Texans who receive benefits through the federal Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program will no longer be able to purchase soda and candy with their Lone Star card following the passage of SB 379.

SB 25 requires food manufacturers to label foods by 2027 that contain any one of 44 additives or colorings not permitted in food sold in the United Kingdom, Australia, the European Union or Canada.

The state labeling requirements would take effect on Jan. 1, 2027 but a loophole exists that if on Dec. 31, 2026 a snack food producer wants to stick with its existing packaging for another decade, no warning label is needed because the new law “applies only to a food product label developed or copyrighted on or after January 1, 2027.”

The bill also requires elementary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions to re-prioritize health and exercise. It also forces health professionals to take continuing education courses regarding nutrition and metabolic health. And it will require recess or physical activity for kids in charter schools – physical activity is already required in public schools.

HB 26 creates a pilot program within Medicaid to offer pregnant moms with nutritional counseling and medically-tailored meals.

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 were too severe, to ensure women could get life-saving care.

SB 31 says doctors need not wait until death is imminent to intervene, but affirms that the condition must be life-threatening to justify performing an abortion. It will also require doctors and lawyers to take continuing education courses on the nuances of the law.

Legislators passed a bill restricting cities, like Austin and San Antonio, from using taxpayer dollars to assist people who travel out-of-state to have an abortion. But the highest profile anti-abortion bill, SB 2880, which would have allowed anyone who manufactures, distributes, provides or prescribes abortion pills to be sued for $100,000 passed the Senate but stalled in the House.

Lawmakers passed bills to expand crisis hotline services and provide loan reimbursement to address the mental health workforce shortage.

After a couple days of debate about the role of mental health professionals in Texas, lawmakers passed SB 646, which broadens eligibility for Texas’ loan repayment assistance program to include school counselors, marriage and family therapists, and other behavioral health professionals.

HB 5342 establishes the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Trust Fund, which will accept donations, grants and federal funds to maintain or improve the crisis line. Additionally, the bill mandates an annual report on the usage of the crisis centers participating in the 988 network.

Texas lawmakers imposed some restrictions on how minors accessed social media.

SB 2420 sets up requirements for age verification and parental consent before a minor is allowed to download or make purchases within software applications. Under this bill, developers must assign age ratings to their apps, disclose the reason for the rating, and notify the app stores of any significant changes.

Parental consent will not be required for specific emergency or educational applications, such as those providing access to crisis hotlines.

A bill to ban minors from social media altogether failed in the last few days of the legislative session.

Several budget items involving health care and services for Texans were also approved.

Among them were an extra $100 million to fund child care scholarships to low income families on a waitlist for child care.

Nearly 95,000 Texas children are on a waitlist for child care scholarships at a time when facilities are closing and the cost of child care in Texas is making it difficult for working parents to make ends meet.

Last year, HHSC asked for $300 million worth of upgrades for its Medicaid and food stamps enrollment system but will? receive less than half that ask, about $139 million. The agency’s request came after Texas and the nation suspended Medicaid rules requiring participants to renew their applications more often during the pandemic and then removed nearly 2 million participants following the pandemic. The improvements will shorten the time between application for health care coverage and food assistance and activation of those benefits.

In Texas, Medicaid is mostly a children’s health insurance program. Only low income children, the elderly and new moms are covered by Medicaid in this state.

There is also a $18 million increase over the next two years for the state’s Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) services which assists families with children up to 36 months who have developmental delays, disabilities or certain medical diagnoses that may impact development.

A $60 million rider was put in to cover Texas’ costs of entering a federal summer lunch program in 2027. The 2023 program would give qualifying parents $120 over the summer months to help pay for lunches when school is out of session. More than 30 states now participate in the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer program which also goes by the name Sun Bucks.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick championed the passage of Senate Bill 5, which creates the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, to study dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other brain conditions. Modeled after Texas’ cancer institute, the measure received bipartisan support. Abbott has signed the bill but the measure now goes before the voters to approve whether $3 billion in general revenue can be used to fund the project.

The Texas Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s office investigates health care and benefit fraud. This year, a handful of bills were passed to help streamline investigations by the office and update salary classifications for OIG officers to those of other Texas law enforcement officers, improving recruiting. This comes as the office has been instrumental in identifying fraud within some of the state’s health benefits systems, leading to firings of some agency employees.