Texas Medical Board adopts minor clarifications to abortion ban exceptions
The Texas Medical Board adopted new rules Friday on how doctors should treat patients under the state’s abortion laws, including exceptions to the state’s near-total ban.
The new guidance reduces paperwork requirements for doctors, but declines to provide an exact list of circumstances under which an abortion would be legal.
The board also removed a requirement that seemingly encouraged doctors to transfer patients who appeared to need an abortion.
Austin attorneys and lobbyists Steve and Amy Bresnen of Austin filed the original petition asking the medical board to refine its guidance.
“Overall, they did make some positive changes, like updating the definition of ectopic pregnancy, for example,” Amy Bresnen said. “Other than that, the rules appear to be not much different from what they originally proposed.”
The Bresnens are far from satisfied with the board’s decision, however.
“The takeaway is the doctors are not going to feel any more comfortable today than they did in the past,” Amy said.
The chair of the board, Dr. Sherif Zaafran, acknowledged concerns about the limitations of the guidance in a statement after the decision.
““The Board acknowledges and respects that this rule may not answer the concerns and questions that arise in every single situation,” Zaafran said. “The reality is that the Board can only act where it has the authority to provide rules within the confines of the law.”
