Bill Text: TX HB1685 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to prohibition of abortion; creating a criminal offense.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 11-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-04 - Referred to Criminal Jurisprudence [HB1685 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HB1685-Introduced.html
| 86R8713 SCL-F | ||
| By: Capriglione | H.B. No. 1685 | |
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| relating to prohibition of abortion; creating a criminal offense. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Title 10, Penal Code, is amended by adding | ||
| Chapter 50 to read as follows: | ||
| CHAPTER 50. ABORTION | ||
| Sec. 50.01. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: | ||
| (1) "Abortion" has the meaning assigned by Section | ||
| 245.002, Health and Safety Code. | ||
| (2) "Fertilization" means the point in time when a | ||
| male human sperm penetrates the zona pellucida of a female human | ||
| ovum. | ||
| (3) "Pregnant" means the female human reproductive | ||
| condition of having a living unborn child within the female's body | ||
| through the entire embryonic and fetal stages of the unborn child's | ||
| development from fertilization until birth. | ||
| (4) "Reasonable medical judgment" means a medical | ||
| judgment made by a reasonably prudent physician, knowledgeable | ||
| about the case and the treatment possibilities for the medical | ||
| conditions involved. | ||
| (5) "Unborn child" means an individual living member | ||
| of the homo sapiens species from fertilization until birth, | ||
| including the entire embryonic and fetal stages of development. | ||
| Sec. 50.02. PERFORMANCE OF ABORTION. (a) A person commits | ||
| an offense under Chapter 19 if an unborn child dies as a result of an | ||
| abortion performed or attempted by the person. | ||
| (b) A person commits an offense under Chapter 22 if an | ||
| unborn child sustains bodily injury as a result of an abortion | ||
| performed or attempted by the person. | ||
| (c) It is an exception to the application of this section | ||
| that: | ||
| (1) the actor is a licensed physician; | ||
| (2) in the actor's reasonable medical judgment, the | ||
| pregnant female on whom the abortion is performed or attempted 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; and | ||
| (3) the actor performs or attempts to perform the | ||
| abortion in a manner that, in the actor's reasonable medical | ||
| judgment, provides the best opportunity for the unborn child to | ||
| survive unless, in the actor's reasonable medical judgment, that | ||
| manner would create: | ||
| (A) a greater risk of the pregnant female's | ||
| death; or | ||
| (B) a serious risk of substantial impairment of a | ||
| major bodily function of the pregnant female. | ||
| (d) The exception provided by Subsection (c) is not | ||
| available if, at the time the abortion was performed or attempted, | ||
| the actor knew the risk of death or a substantial impairment of a | ||
| major bodily function arose from a claim or diagnosis that the | ||
| female would engage in conduct that might result in the female's | ||
| death or in substantial impairment of a major bodily function. | ||
| (e) It is an exception to the application of this section | ||
| that the conduct subject to the offense is medical treatment | ||
| provided to a pregnant female by a physician and that medical | ||
| treatment results in the accidental death of or unintentional | ||
| bodily injury to an unborn child. | ||
| (f) This section may not be construed to authorize the | ||
| prosecution of a pregnant female on whom an abortion is performed or | ||
| attempted. | ||
| SECTION 2. Chapter 6-1/2, Title 71, Revised Statutes, is | ||
| repealed. | ||
| SECTION 3. (a) Sections 1 and 2 of this Act take effect, to | ||
| the extent permitted, on the 30th day after: | ||
| (1) the issuance of a United States Supreme Court | ||
| judgment overruling, wholly or partly, Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 | ||
| (1973), as modified by Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 | ||
| (1992), thereby allowing the states to prohibit abortion; | ||
| (2) the issuance of any other United States Supreme | ||
| Court decision that recognizes, wholly or partly, the authority of | ||
| the states to prohibit abortion; or | ||
| (3) adoption of an amendment to the United States | ||
| Constitution that, wholly or partly, restores to the states the | ||
| authority to prohibit abortion. | ||
| (b) Chapter 50, Penal Code, as added by this Act, applies | ||
| only to an offense committed on or after the date described by | ||
| Subsection (a) of this section. An offense committed before the | ||
| date described by Subsection (a) of this section is governed by the | ||
| law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the former | ||
| law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this | ||
| subsection, an offense is committed before the date described by | ||
| Subsection (a) of this section if any element of the offense occurs | ||
| before that date. | ||
| SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
| a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
| provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
| Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
| Act takes effect September 1, 2019. | ||
