The “Rally for Life” march at the Texas State Capitol in Austin in January. Even anti-abortion groups are asking for more clarity on exceptions to state abortion bans.
Suzanne Cordiero/AFP via Getty Images
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Suzanne Cordiero/AFP via Getty Images
The stakes are high for doctors in Texas when it comes to abortion.
With The three laws overlapTexas bans nearly all abortions and imposes some of the harshest penalties on doctors in the country, including thousands of dollars in fines, loss of medical licenses and even life in prison.
That’s the backdrop for an ongoing process aimed at helping doctors better understand when abortions can be performed and considered subject to the narrow medical exception in Texas’ abortion law.
The state Supreme Court ordered – and an official petition required – The Texas Medical Board must clarify how doctors should interpret the exception, which says abortion is allowed to save a woman’s life or “vital bodily function.”
Drafted by the Council those clarifying rules But at a public meeting on Monday, the board repeatedly heard that it was off target.
The rules say doctors need to document in significant detail the efforts that were made to save the pregnancy. And they said that, if time permits, they should transfer patients “by all available means” to hospitals with more expertise to try to save the fetus. If there is not enough time for referral, the doctor must document that.
Chairman of the Texas Medical Board Dr. Sherif Zaafranan anesthesiologist based in Houston, chaired the virtual meeting along with board executive director Brint Carlton.
It lasted more than four hours. The Texas Medical Association, which represents 57,000 physicians, residents and medical students, the Texas Hospital Association, which represents 460 hospitals, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists all told the council that the regulations Their intentions are still not clear enough.
In some respects, the proposed rules “could do more harm than good,” said Steve Wohleb of the Texas Hospital Association.
The two dozen commenters also included doctors, Texas attorneys, representatives of organizations that oppose abortion rights and patients, including Kate Cox.
Cox was a Texas woman who was experiencing serious pregnancy complications when she appealed to the Texas Supreme Court to attempt an abortion. She was denied the procedure and had to travel to another state to terminate her pregnancy. CaseHowever, the court pressured the Texas Medical Board to issue guidance.
Kate Cox, right, attended the State of the Union address in March. She sat next to Maria Shriver, author and former First Lady of California.
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Cox said the state of Texas did not help her when she needed an abortion in December 2023. “I’m afraid the rules that this panel is currently proposing won’t help me either,” she told the panel beautiful.
Many commented that the regulations failed to reassure doctors that they could perform abortions without having to wait for patients to become increasingly sick.
Elizabeth Weller, person telling her story for the first time came to NPR in 2022, had that experience. Her water broke too early for her pregnancy to survive, but she had to wait until there were signs of infection before having an abortion. She ended her remarks with this:
“I hope you all can go to bed at night and never have blood on your hands because of the women who are going to have to endure this. I hope that your rules are clear. I hope no one has to die because of this.”
Both Cox and Weller plaintiff in the lawsuit against the state seeking to clarify the medical exception. The four other plaintiffs in that case, Dr. Austin Dennard, Lauren Miller, Amanda Zurawski, Dr. Judy Levison, and lead attorney Molly Duane of the Center for Reproductive Rights, also commented on the rules. The Texas Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling by the end of June. Two patients not involved in the case also commented on their experiences receiving delayed care for serious pregnancy complications. pregnancy.
The message from anti-abortion groups is very similar – they also want the regulations to make it clearer that doctors do not need to wait until a woman’s condition becomes life-threatening before taking action. Miranda Willborg of Texas Right to Life said the board should clarify “the fact that there is no need for imminent death.”
“Women don’t have to be close to death for a doctor to take action,” said Willborg, though she added that overall, her group was satisfied with the proposed rules.
Council President Zaafran rejected the idea that, under the proposed regulations, doctors would have to delay care as long as possible. “I don’t think there’s any information that you have to wait until the patient is septic and potentially close to death before you need to take action or intervene,” he said. “If there was something that we said in the proposed rules that was closely related to that then we’d be happy to make proposals along those lines, but that’s certainly not what we intend to.”
“That’s what happened,” replied Steve Bresnen, an Austin lawyer and lobbyist. Are not Doctor.”
Bresnen, along with his wife and business partner Amy Bresnen, filed a petition asking the Texas Medical Board to write the regulations.
He said the council needs to say in writing that patients do not need to be at risk of harm to have a legal abortion.
“If you don’t do that, you won’t achieve anything,” Bresnen said. He also encouraged the board to scrap the proposed rules and try again. “Don’t be afraid to start with a blank slate.”
Currently, nothing has changed with the abortion ban in Texas. If the board decides to start over, the process could take several months.
