Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4014 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	2021S0174-1 03/09/21
2	2	By: Hefner H.B. No. 4014
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the protection of children, including the definition of
8	8	child abuse and the prosecution of the criminal offense of
9	9	abandoning or endangering a child.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Section 261.001, Family Code, is amended by
12	12	amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivision (3-a) to read as
13	13	follows:
14	14	(1) "Abuse" includes the following acts or omissions
15	15	by a person:
16	16	(A) mental or emotional injury to a child that
17	17	results in an observable and material impairment in the child's
18	18	growth, development, or psychological functioning;
19	19	(B) causing or permitting the child to be in a
20	20	situation in which the child sustains a mental or emotional injury
21	21	that results in an observable and material impairment in the
22	22	child's growth, development, or psychological functioning;
23	23	(C) physical injury that results in substantial
24	24	harm to the child, or the genuine threat of substantial harm from
25	25	physical injury to the child, including an injury that is at
26	26	variance with the history or explanation given and excluding an
27	27	accident or reasonable discipline by a parent, guardian, or
28	28	managing or possessory conservator that does not expose the child
29	29	to a substantial risk of harm;
30	30	(D) failure to make a reasonable effort to
31	31	prevent an action by another person that results in physical injury
32	32	that results in substantial harm to the child;
33	33	(E) sexual conduct harmful to a child's mental,
34	34	emotional, or physical welfare, including conduct that constitutes
35	35	the offense of continuous sexual abuse of young child or children
36	36	under Section 21.02, Penal Code, indecency with a child under
37	37	Section 21.11, Penal Code, sexual assault under Section 22.011,
38	38	Penal Code, or aggravated sexual assault under Section 22.021,
39	39	Penal Code;
40	40	(F) failure to make a reasonable effort to
41	41	prevent sexual conduct harmful to a child;
42	42	(G) compelling or encouraging the child to engage
43	43	in sexual conduct as defined by Section 43.01, Penal Code,
44	44	including compelling or encouraging the child in a manner that
45	45	constitutes an offense of trafficking of persons under Section
46	46	20A.02(a)(7) or (8), Penal Code, prostitution under Section
47	47	43.02(b), Penal Code, or compelling prostitution under Section
48	48	43.05(a)(2), Penal Code;
49	49	(H) causing, permitting, encouraging, engaging
50	50	in, or allowing the photographing, filming, or depicting of the
51	51	child if the person knew or should have known that the resulting
52	52	photograph, film, or depiction of the child is obscene as defined by
53	53	Section 43.21, Penal Code, or pornographic;
54	54	(I) the current use by a person of a controlled
55	55	substance as defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, in a
56	56	manner or to the extent that the use results in physical, mental, or
57	57	emotional injury to a child;
58	58	(J) causing, expressly permitting, or
59	59	encouraging a child to use a controlled substance as defined by
60	60	Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code;
61	61	(K) causing, permitting, encouraging, engaging
62	62	in, or allowing a sexual performance by a child as defined by
63	63	Section 43.25, Penal Code;
64	64	(L) knowingly causing, permitting, encouraging,
65	65	engaging in, or allowing a child to be trafficked in a manner
66	66	punishable as an offense under Section 20A.02(a)(5), (6), (7), or
67	67	(8), Penal Code, or the failure to make a reasonable effort to
68	68	prevent a child from being trafficked in a manner punishable as an
69	69	offense under any of those sections; [or]
70	70	(M) forcing or coercing a child to enter into a
71	71	marriage; or
72	72	(N) for a person other than a person lawfully
73	73	discharging his or her duties under a license issued under Chapter
74	74	551, Occupations Code:
75	75	(i) administering or supplying, or
76	76	consenting to or assisting in the administering or supplying of, a
77	77	puberty suppression prescription drug or cross-sex hormone to a
78	78	child, other than an intersex child, for the purpose of gender
79	79	transitioning or gender reassignment; or
80	80	(ii) performing or consenting to the
81	81	performance of surgery or another medical procedure on a child,
82	82	other than an intersex child, for the purpose of gender
83	83	transitioning or gender reassignment.
84	84	(3-a) "Intersex child" means a child who is younger
85	85	than 18 years of age and either:
86	86	(A) has inborn chromosomal, gonadal, genital, or
87	87	endocrine characteristics, or a combination of those
88	88	characteristics, that are not suited to the typical definition of
89	89	male or female or are atypical for the sex determined; or
90	90	(B) is considered by a medical professional to
91	91	have inborn chromosomal, gonadal, genital, or endocrine
92	92	characteristics that are ambiguous or atypical for the sex
93	93	determined.
94	94	SECTION 2. Section 22.041, Penal Code, is amended by
95	95	amending Subsections (a) and (c-1) and adding Subsection (c-2) to
96	96	read as follows:
97	97	(a) In this section:
98	98	(1) "Abandon"[, "abandon"] means to leave a child in
99	99	any place without providing reasonable and necessary care for the
100	100	child, under circumstances under which no reasonable, similarly
101	101	situated adult would leave a child of that age and ability.
102	102	(2) "Intersex child" means a child who is younger than
103	103	15 years of age and either:
104	104	(A) has inborn chromosomal, gonadal, genital, or
105	105	endocrine characteristics, or a combination of those
106	106	characteristics, that are not suited to the typical definition of
107	107	male or female or are atypical for the sex determined; or
108	108	(B) is considered by a medical professional to
109	109	have inborn chromosomal, gonadal, genital, or endocrine
110	110	characteristics that are ambiguous or atypical for the sex
111	111	determined.
112	112	(c-1) For purposes of Subsection (c), it is presumed that a
113	113	person engaged in conduct that places a child in imminent danger of
114	114	death, bodily injury, or physical or mental impairment if:
115	115	(1) the person manufactured, possessed, or in any way
116	116	introduced into the body of any person the controlled substance
117	117	methamphetamine in the presence of the child;
118	118	(2) the person's conduct related to the proximity or
119	119	accessibility of the controlled substance methamphetamine to the
120	120	child and an analysis of a specimen of the child's blood, urine, or
121	121	other bodily substance indicates the presence of methamphetamine in
122	122	the child's body; [or]
123	123	(3) the person injected, ingested, inhaled, or
124	124	otherwise introduced a controlled substance listed in Penalty Group
125	125	1, Section 481.102, Health and Safety Code, into the human body when
126	126	the person was not in lawful possession of the substance as defined
127	127	by Section 481.002(24) of that code;
128	128	(4) the person administers or supplies, or consents to
129	129	or assists in the administering or supplying of, a puberty
130	130	suppression prescription drug or cross-sex hormone to a child for
131	131	the purpose of gender transitioning or gender reassignment; or
132	132	(5) the person performs or consents to the performance
133	133	of surgery or another medical procedure on a child for the purpose
134	134	of gender transitioning or gender reassignment.
135	135	(c-2) The presumptions provided by Subsections (c-1)(4) and
136	136	(5) do not apply to conduct described by those provisions that:
137	137	(1) occurs with respect to an intersex child; or
138	138	(2) is the lawful discharge of the actor's duties under
139	139	a license issued to the actor under Chapter 551, Occupations Code.
140	140	SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
141	141	a violation or offense committed on or after the effective date of
142	142	this Act. A violation or offense committed before the effective
143	143	date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
144	144	violation or offense was committed, and the former law is continued
145	145	in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, a
146	146	violation or offense was committed before the effective date of
147	147	this Act if any element of the violation or offense occurred before
148	148	that date.
149	149	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.