By: Howard H.B. No. 2215
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to exceptions to certain laws prohibiting abortion.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 170A.001(3), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(3) "Pregnant" means the [female] human reproductive
condition of having an embryo or fetus develop [a living unborn
child] within the human [female's] body [during the entire
embryonic and fetal stages of the unborn child's development from
fertilization until birth].
SECTION 2. Section 170A.002, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (b) and (d) and adding Subsection
(e) to read as follows:
(b) The prohibition under Subsection (a) does not apply if:
(1) the person performing, inducing, or attempting the
abortion is a licensed physician; and
(2) in the physician's best [exercise of reasonable]
medical judgment, the [pregnant female on whom the] abortion is
medically indicated or:
(A) necessary to preserve the pregnant patient's
life and/or future fertility;
(B) necessary to preserve the pregnant patient's
physical or mental health;
(C) requested because of a lethal fetal anomaly
or diagnosis; or
(D) requested because of a life-limiting
diagnosis that indicates the existence of the fetus outside the
womb is incompatible with life without extraordinary medical
interventions [performed, induced, 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 or induced; and
[(3) the person performs, induces, or attempts the
abortion in a manner that, in the exercise of reasonable medical
judgment, provides the best opportunity for the unborn child to
survive unless, in the 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) Medical treatment provided to the pregnant patient
[female] by a licensed physician that results in the accidental or
unintentional injury or death of the embryo or fetus [unborn child]
does not constitute a violation of this section.
(e) Each abortion permitted under an exception provided by
this section must be considered independently by the treating
physician and the pregnant patient or the patient's health care
proxy. A medical review process may not override a determination by
a physician and a pregnant patient or the patient's health care
proxy to perform, induce, or attempt an abortion permitted under an
exception provided by this section.
SECTION 3. Section 170A.003, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 170A.003. CONSTRUCTION OF CHAPTER. This chapter may
not be construed to authorize the imposition of criminal, civil, or
administrative liability or penalties on a pregnant patient
[female] on whom an abortion is performed, induced, or attempted.
SECTION 4. Sections 170A.001(2) and 170A.002(c), Health and
Safety Code, are repealed.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.