The Texas Medical Board is being asked to clarify exactly what qualifies as a medical exception to the state's restrictive abortion law.
Except for narrow medical exemptions, abortion is basically outlawed in Texas. But what those exceptions are, outside of an ectopic pregnancy, is unclear.
Recently Dallas woman Kate Cox, who's unviable pregnancy threatened her future fertility was granted permission from Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble to have an abortion. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an emergency petition to block that ruling and the matter ended up in the Texas Supreme Court.
They refused to define what comprised a reasonable medical judgment and asked the Medical Board for guidance. And in late November in the case Zurawski Vs. Texas 20 women testified they were denied abortion access even as their pregnancies made them extremely ill and, or were unviable.
Austin attorneys Steve and Amy Bresnen filed a petition for rule-making. Steve Bresnen says "Physicians cannot be expected to come to the aid of women with life-threatening conditions arising from their pregnancies if they're going to go to the penitentiary for 99 years."
He adds for any change the board would have to go through a lengthy rule-making process including a 30-day public comment period and this process would take at least six months.
Their proposal asks the board to identify conditions that may constitute a medical emergency and ban harassment and legal action against doctors who help women experiencing an emergency.
19 people sit on the Texas Medical Board. 12 are physicians and one is an OB/GYN. Members are appointed by Governor Greg Abbott. In late December, the board's chair Dr. Sherif Zaafran, a Houston anesthesiologist, said this issue is beyond the scope is permitted to tackle legally.
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