The Texas Medical Board has unanimously approved guidelines for exceptions to the state's ban on abortions. The Texas legislature passed a law that would ban almost all abortions in 2021; the law took effect when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling on Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization in July 2022.
The law allows abortion only when a doctor believes, in his or her "reasonable medical judgment," a woman 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."
In a ruling in December, the Texas Supreme Court wrote, "The Texas Medical Board, however, can do more to provide guidance in response to any confusion that currently prevails."
The Texas Medical Board unanimously adopted amendments Friday to provide "clarification on rules regarding exceptions to the ban on abortions." The amendments include definitions for "reasonable medical judgment," "medical emergency" and "major bodily function."
"Additionally, the rule stresses that lack of imminent risk of death or substantial impairment to a patient should not preclude a physician from doing what is medically necessary," Board President Sherif Zaafran wrote in a statement.
Zaafran said the board has received requests to change definitions listed in the law, but he says the group does not have that authority.
He also said the group had received "a multitude of comments" asking for a list of conditions that would qualify for an abortion.
"However, as I have previously stressed, because each patient and their presenting condition is unique, any list would be incomplete and not necessarily applicable to a given medical situation. It would be problematic if a condition that was appropriate but was not specifically listed occurred. The absence of that specific condition being listed may give physicians the false impression that its absence precludes their ability to take lifesaving and/or critical measures to prevent substantial impairment," he wrote.
Zaafran said the phrase, "reasonable medical judgment," does not allow for a list or formula but is instead "fully dependent" on the patient's condition, location, circumstances, and the knowledge of the doctor.
“The Board acknowledges and respects that this rule may not answer the concerns and questions that arise in every single situation. The reality is that the Board can only act where it has the authority to provide rules within the confines of the law," he wrote. "However, we do feel that the adopted rules provide physicians with valuable guidance on how they can successfully navigate any complaints the agency may receive related to abortion care they may provide.”
The rules adopted by the Texas Medical Board also require doctors to file paperwork within a week of the abortion explaining the abortion was performed in response to a medical emergency where the woman was in danger of death or "substantial impairment of a major bodily function."
The report also must include which bodily functions might be affected, what placed the woman in danger of death, how that risk was determined, the "rationale on why the abortion was performed" and if the abortion was a response to an ectopic pregnancy or "previable premature rupture of membranes."
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