By: Capriglione H.B. No. 2350
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to prohibition of abortion; creating a civil penalty
offense; providing for a civil cause of action.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Title 10, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Chapter 50 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 50. ABORTION
Sec. 50.01. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Abortion" has the meaning assigned by Section
245.002, Health and Safety Code.
(2) "Fertilization" means the point in time when a
male human sperm penetrates the zona pellucida of a female human
ovum.
(3) "Pregnant" means the female human reproductive
condition of having a living unborn child within the female's body
through the entire embryonic and fetal stages of the unborn child's
development from fertilization until birth.
(4) "Reasonable medical judgment" means a medical
judgment made by a reasonably prudent physician, knowledgeable
about the case and the treatment possibilities for the medical
conditions involved.
(5) "Unborn child" means an individual living member
of the homo sapiens species from fertilization until birth,
including the entire embryonic and fetal stages of development.
Sec. 50.02. PERFORMANCE OF ABORTION; CIVIL OFFENSE. (a) A
person may not knowingly perform or induce or attempt to perform or
induce an abortion intended to cause the death of an unborn child.
(b) A person commits a civil offense if an unborn child dies
or sustains bodily injury as a result of an abortion performed or
attempted by the person.
(c) It is an exception to the application of this section
that:
(1) the actor is a licensed physician;
(2) in the actor's reasonable medical judgment, the
pregnant female on whom the abortion is performed 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; and
(3) the actor performs or attempts to perform the
abortion in a manner that, in the actor's reasonable medical
judgment, provides the best opportunity for the unborn child to
survive unless, in the actor's 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) The exception provided by Subsection (c) is not
available if, at the time the abortion was performed or attempted,
the actor knew the risk of death or a substantial impairment of a
major bodily function arose from a claim or diagnosis that the
female would engage in conduct that might result in the female's
death or in substantial impairment of a major bodily function.
(e) It is an exception to the application of this section
that the conduct subject to the offense is medical treatment
provided to a pregnant female by a physician and that medical
treatment results in the accidental death of or unintentional
bodily injury to an unborn child.
(f) This section may not be construed to authorize the
prosecution of a pregnant female on whom an abortion is performed or
attempted.
Sec. 50.03. CIVIL PENALTY. A physician or health care
facility that violates this section is subject to a civil penalty of
$500 for each violation. The attorney general, at the request of the
commission or appropriate licensing agency, may file an action to
recover a civil penalty assessed under this section and may recover
attorney's fees and costs incurred in bringing the action. Each day
of a continuing violation constitutes a separate ground for
recovery.
Sec. 50.04. CIVIL REMEDIES UNAFFECTED. The fact that
conduct is a civil offense under this section does not abolish or
impair any remedy for the conduct that is available in a civil suit.
Sec. 50.05. CIVIL ACTION; PROVIDING REMEDIES. (a) Unless
the abortion is performed pursuant to the exception provided in
Section 50.02(c), a woman on whom an abortion, as defined by Section
245.002, Health and Safety Code, is performed or attempted, the
father of the unborn child or a parent of the mother of the unborn
child, if the mother is younger than 18 years of age at the time of
the abortion, may bring a civil action to obtain appropriate relief
for causing the unborn child to die or sustain bodily injury as a
result of the abortion, including:
(1) money damages for physical injury, mental anguish,
and emotional distress; and
(2) exemplary damages equal to three times the cost of
the abortion.
(b) A person may not bring or maintain an action under this
section if:
(1) the person consented to the abortion; or
(2) the person's injurious conduct resulted in the
pregnancy.
SECTION 2. Chapter 6-1/2, Title 71, Revised Statutes, is
repealed.
SECTION 3. (a) Sections 1 and 2 of this Act take effect, to
the extent permitted, on the 30th day after:
(1) the issuance of a United States Supreme Court
judgment overruling, wholly or partly, Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113
(1973), as modified by Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833
(1992), thereby allowing the states to prohibit abortion;
(2) the issuance of any other United States Supreme
Court decision that recognizes, wholly or partly, the authority of
the states to prohibit abortion; or
(3) adoption of an amendment to the United States
Constitution that, wholly or partly, restores to the states the
authority to prohibit abortion.
(b) Chapter 50, Penal Code, as added by this Act, applies
only to an offense committed on or after the date described by
Subsection (a) of this section. An offense committed before the
date described by Subsection (a) of this section 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
subsection, an offense is committed before the date described by
Subsection (a) of this section if any element of the offense occurs
before that date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2019.