Understanding Texas’ Pro-Life Laws: Exceptions for Medical Emergencies Explained

Texas’ Pro-Life laws are based on the principle that the Right to Life is paramount. This universal, God-given right establishes the State’s interest in protecting innocent Life from being taken. Our state made elective abortion illegal because it intentionally takes an innocent Life and violates the Right to Life that everyone has—no matter your age, size, or location.

However, there are times when a woman’s pregnancy threatens her life, and thus intervention is needed. In these cases, the intent behind the action is not to cause the death of the preborn child. The intent is to save the life of the mother and give the child the best chance of survival if possible. Sometimes, the medical intervention used to accomplish this intent resembles abortion procedures, and may even be called abortions by the doctor or hospital. Still, these are not the moral equivalent of an elective abortion, since there is no goal or desire for the child to die as seen in abortion.

As Pro-Lifers, we recognize the importance of saving a life. Therefore, our laws address these situations where one life could be saved when both are in danger of being lost. This is often referred to as the law’s “medical emergency exception.”

Note that we should not see these as similar to other political exceptions. Politicians often support or adopt exceptions to allow abortion in specific circumstances other than life-threatening situations. Texas has none of these politically motivated exceptions, which would include rape or fetal disability. When discussing medical emergencies, the word “exception” is used because the medical community still sees these medically necessary procedures as abortions, even if that is not the proper moral or legal term.

Ectopic Pregnancies and Miscarriages

There are two categories of medical emergencies when abortion-like medical care is allowed in Texas. The first are procedures done to resolve ectopic pregnancies and incomplete spontaneous abortions, which are more commonly known as a miscarriage. Our law explicitly excludes these from the definition of ‘abortion.’ This means that any time “abortion” is mentioned in the law, the Pro-Life policy is not referring to these situations at all. Any bans or restrictions placed on abortion do not apply to these situations.

*Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 245

When a mother has a spontaneous miscarriage, the child has already passed away but has not left her womb. Clearly, there can be no intent to cause the death of a child who has already passed away. The child’s lifeless body has to be removed to prevent future harm to the mother.

With ectopic pregnancies, the child is implanted somewhere other than in the uterus, most often in the fallopian tube. These conditions do not provide enough room for the child to grow large enough to be born. Instead, the growing child will cause the mother’s fallopian tube to rupture, resulting in severe internal injury and a high chance of death. Currently, a preborn child essentially has no chance of surviving an ectopic pregnancy, but the mother can survive with timely intervention.

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Other Medical Emergencies

The second category is those that are still legally considered “abortions,” but are done to prevent death or severe bodily harm to the mother. A medical emergency is defined in Texas law as;

“A life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy that, as certified by a physician, places the woman in danger of death or a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function unless an abortion is performed. “

In these cases, a doctor uses his or her best reasonable medical judgment to determine that a medical emergency is present. The law also requires the doctor to use that same reasonable medical judgment to give the preborn child the best chance to survive. One common circumstance is when a woman’s water breaks too early in pregnancy, when the child is not ready to live outside the womb known as Preterm Premature Rupture of the Membranes (PPROM).

Therefore, medical emergency exceptions do not include abortions performed when the child’s health is in question and the mother is healthy. The highly publicized lawsuit Zurawski v. Texas included plaintiffs claiming they were owed a medically necessary abortion if their child had a life-limiting diagnosis.

A very important part of the medical emergency exception is that care is authorized if death or severe bodily harm is foreseeable. Any suggestion that death needs to be imminent comes from misinterpretation of the law, whether due to ignorance or malice. The leftist pro-abortion media has tried to convince the world of this, causing doctors to delay necessary care. These doctors were terrified about losing their medical licenses, paying fines, and being put in prison, which would indeed be the punishment for performing an illegal abortion.

The Texas Medical Board (TMB) recently approved a set of rules that clarify and reaffirm the law as written. The Board stated, once and for all, that doctors do not need to wait to treat a patient whose pregnancy is putting her life in danger.

Texas Pro-Life laws are written to save the lives of the preborn and the lives of mothers. Any misinformation to the contrary is extremely harmful. Life is a right that each person has at the moment of conception, and our state law protects that for all Texans!