89R13357 JG-D
By: Johnson S.B. No. 1521
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of abortion and related matters,
including the repeal of certain abortion laws, a deposition request
before filing certain civil actions, and municipal or county
authority to prohibit movement.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 20, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is
amended by adding Section 20.003 to read as follows:
Sec. 20.003. DEPOSITION REQUEST BEFORE FILING ACTION. (a)
Subject to Subsection (b), a person may petition a court for an
order authorizing the conduct of a deposition on oral examination
or written questions to:
(1) perpetuate or obtain the person's own testimony or
another person's testimony for use in an anticipated action; or
(2) investigate a potential claim or action.
(b) A person may not petition the court for a deposition
described by Subsection (a) if the person has not sustained or will
not reasonably expect to sustain actual damages in the person's
anticipated or potential claim or action.
(c) A person who files a petition in violation of this
section is liable to each person attempted to be deposed in the
petition for that person's attorney's fees incurred in defending
against the petition.
(d) Notwithstanding Section 22.004, Government Code, this
section may not be modified or repealed by a rule adopted by the
supreme court.
SECTION 2. The heading to Section 151.002, Family Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 151.002. RIGHTS OF A LIVING CHILD AFTER AN ABORTION OR
PREMATURE BIRTH[; CIVIL PENALTY; CRIMINAL OFFENSE].
SECTION 3. Section 311.036, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) A statute regulating or prohibiting abortion may not be
construed to authorize the imposition or incurrence of criminal,
civil, or administrative penalties or liability on a pregnant
individual on whom an abortion is performed, induced, or attempted.
SECTION 4. Section 170.002(c), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) A physician who performs an abortion that, according to
the physician's best medical judgment at the time of the abortion,
is to abort a viable unborn child during the third trimester of the
pregnancy shall certify in writing to the commission, on a form
prescribed by the commission, the medical indications supporting
the physician's judgment that the abortion was authorized by
Subsection (b)(2) or (3). [If the physician certifies the abortion
was authorized by Subsection (b)(3), the physician shall certify in
writing on the form the fetal abnormality identified by the
physician.] The certification must be made not later than the 30th
day after the date the abortion was performed.
SECTION 5. Subchapter A, Chapter 171, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 171.009 to read as follows:
Sec. 171.009. TRAVEL ASSISTANCE TO OBTAIN ABORTION OUTSIDE
STATE. Notwithstanding any other law, a person may provide to an
individual direct or indirect assistance for traveling outside of
this state to obtain an abortion.
SECTION 6. Section 171.061, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subdivision (3) and amending Subdivision (8-a) to
read as follows:
(3) "Final printed label" means the informational
document the United States Food and Drug Administration approves
for an abortion-inducing drug that:
(A) outlines the protocol authorized by that
agency and agreed to by the drug company applying for authorization
of the drug by that agency; and
(B) delineates the manner in which a drug is to be
used according to approval by that agency.
(8-a) "Provide" means, as used with regard to
abortion-inducing drugs, any act of giving, selling, dispensing,
administering, [transferring possession,] or otherwise providing
or prescribing an abortion-inducing drug.
SECTION 7. Subchapter D, Chapter 171, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 171.0611 to read as follows:
Sec. 171.0611. EFFECT OF OTHER LAWS; LOCAL REGULATION. (a)
Notwithstanding any other law, a physician may provide an
abortion-inducing drug to a pregnant individual in accordance with
this subchapter. To the extent a provision of this subchapter
conflicts with any other law, this subchapter controls.
(b) A political subdivision may not adopt or enforce an
ordinance, order, or other measure that conflicts with this
section.
SECTION 8. Section 171.063, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a), (c), and (e) and adding
Subsection (b) to read as follows:
(a) A person may not knowingly provide an abortion-inducing
drug to a pregnant woman for the purpose of inducing an abortion in
the pregnant woman or enabling another person to induce an abortion
in the pregnant woman unless:
(1) the person who provides the abortion-inducing drug
is a physician; and
(2) except as otherwise provided by Subsection (b),
the provision of the abortion-inducing drug satisfies the protocol
tested and authorized by the United States Food and Drug
Administration as outlined in the final printed label of the
abortion-inducing drug [this subchapter].
(b) A person may provide the abortion-inducing drug in the
dosage amount the clinical management guidelines prescribe in the
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Practice
Bulletin as those guidelines existed on January 1, 2013.
(c) Before the physician provides an abortion-inducing
drug, the physician must:
(1) examine the pregnant woman [in person]; and
(2) [independently verify that a pregnancy exists;
[(3)] document, in the woman's medical record, the
gestational age and intrauterine location of the pregnancy [to
determine whether an ectopic pregnancy exists;
[(4) determine the pregnant woman's blood type, and
for a woman who is Rh negative, offer to administer Rh
immunoglobulin (RhoGAM) at the time the abortion-inducing drug is
administered or used or the abortion is performed or induced to
prevent Rh incompatibility, complications, or miscarriage in
future pregnancies;
[(5) document whether the pregnant woman received
treatment for Rh negativity, as diagnosed by the most accurate
standard of medical care; and
[(6) ensure the physician does not provide an
abortion-inducing drug for a pregnant woman whose pregnancy is more
than 49 days of gestational age].
(e) A physician who provides the abortion-inducing drug, or
the physician's agent, must schedule a follow-up visit for the
woman to occur not later than the 14th day after the administration
[earliest date on which the abortion-inducing drug is administered]
or use of the abortion-inducing drug [used or the abortion is
performed or induced]. At the follow-up visit, the physician must:
(1) confirm that the woman's pregnancy is completely
terminated; and
(2) assess any continued blood loss.
SECTION 9. Section 171.206(b), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) This subchapter may not be construed to:
(1) authorize the initiation of a cause of action
against or the prosecution of a woman on whom an abortion is
performed or induced or attempted to be performed or induced in
violation of this subchapter;
(2) wholly or partly repeal, either expressly or by
implication, any other statute that regulates or prohibits
abortion[, including Chapter 6-1/2, Title 71, Revised Statutes]; or
(3) restrict a political subdivision from regulating
or prohibiting abortion in a manner that is at least as stringent as
the laws of this state.
SECTION 10. Section 171.207(b), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) Subsection (a) may not be construed to:
(1) legalize the conduct prohibited by this subchapter
[or by Chapter 6-1/2, Title 71, Revised Statutes];
(2) limit in any way or affect the availability of a
remedy established by Section 171.208; or
(3) limit the enforceability of any other laws that
regulate or prohibit abortion.
SECTION 11. Section 171.208, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
(a-1) A civil action under Subsection (a)(2) or (3) may not
be brought against a person for providing or intending to provide to
an individual direct or indirect assistance for traveling outside
of this state to obtain an abortion.
SECTION 12. Title 14, Local Government Code, is amended by
adding Subtitle C to read as follows:
SUBTITLE C. TRANSPORTATION PROVISIONS APPLYING TO MORE THAN ONE
TYPE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER 651. TRAVEL PROHIBITIONS
Sec. 651.001. TRAVEL PROHIBITIONS. A municipality or
county may not adopt or enforce an ordinance, order, or other
measure that prohibits the travel of a person through the
municipality or county based on any purpose for the travel.
SECTION 13. The following provisions are repealed:
(1) Subchapter L, Chapter 74, Civil Practice and
Remedies Code;
(2) Sections 151.002(c), (d), (e), (f), and (g),
Family Code;
(3) Section 2273.005, Government Code;
(4) Chapter 170A, Health and Safety Code;
(5) Section 171.006, Health and Safety Code, as added
by Chapter 4 (H.B. 13), Acts of the 85th Legislature, First Called
Session, 2017;
(6) Section 171.006, Health and Safety Code, as added
by Chapter 9 (H.B. 215), Acts of the 85th Legislature, First Called
Session, 2017;
(7) Section 171.061(2-a), Health and Safety Code;
(8) Section 171.063(b-1), Health and Safety Code;
(9) Section 171.0631, Health and Safety Code;
(10) Section 171.0632, Health and Safety Code;
(11) Section 171.065, Health and Safety Code;
(12) Section 171.066, Health and Safety Code;
(13) Chapter 1218, Insurance Code;
(14) Subtitle M, Title 8, Insurance Code;
(15) Section 9.35, Penal Code; and
(16) Chapter 6-1/2, Title 71, Revised Statutes.
SECTION 14. The changes in law made by this Act apply only
to an abortion performed or induced on or after the effective date
of this Act. An abortion performed or induced before the effective
date of this Act is governed by the law applicable to the abortion
immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 15. (a) Except as otherwise provided by this
section, the changes in law made by this Act apply only to an
offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An
offense committed before the effective date of this Act 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 section, an offense was committed before the effective date of
this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
(b) An offense under Section 171.065, Health and Safety
Code, as repealed by this Act, or Chapter 6-1/2, Title 71, Revised
Statutes, as repealed by this Act, may not be prosecuted after the
effective date of this Act. If on the effective date of this Act a
criminal action is pending for an offense under one of those
provisions, the action is dismissed on that date. However, a final
conviction for an offense under those provisions that exists on the
effective date of this Act is unaffected by this Act.
SECTION 16. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.