Read the final rule
JUNE 21, 2024
Contact Bee Moorhead: bee@texasimpact.org
TEXAS IMPACT RESPONDS TO TEXAS MEDICAL BOARD’S ABORTION EXCEPTION RULE
Bee Moorhead, head of Texas Impact, the state’s oldest and largest interfaith advocacy network, released the following statement regarding the Texas Medical Board’s new rules for doctors performing abortions:
The Texas Medical Board’s adoption of a final rule regarding exceptions to the Texas abortion ban should make it crystal clear that the law needs a legislative fix, not an administrative tweak. TMB is trying to solve a puzzle that has pieces missing, and no amount of rearranging can inject the missing content. Texas Impact recommends legislative committees hold interim hearings now, while there is time for the deep consideration the issue calls for. Waiting and hoping for a fix from the courts, agencies, or the federal government has only resulted in fear for doctors and families, and real impacts to the health of Texas women.
TMB’s final rule differs from the original proposal in that it does not require doctors to document the availability of transfer options—but it leaves transfer options in place as a factor for the board in considering complaints against doctors who terminate life-threatening pregnancies. Board members committed to discipline “providers and entities” that withhold necessary care: some providers and hospitals have been reluctant to perform emergency abortions for fear of prosecution, which could lead to “patient dumping.”
Legislators should plan to weigh in on the issue of hospital transfers, especially given that the US Supreme Court is expected to rule on that issue. Legislators also should note that TMB’s pledge to discipline complaints of negligence related to withholding of abortion care could encourage patients and others to bring complaints that they might not otherwise have known could be addressed—generating a new fear for providers and hospitals on top of existing concerns.
Texas Impact and our members remain committed to working for practical policies that safeguard the health of pregnant Texans and their doctors’ ability to practice medicine effectively in our state. We will continue to advocate for legislative solutions and to educate Texans about the realities of the abortion ban.
ABOUT TEXAS IMPACT:
Texas Impact is a religious grassroots network whose members include individuals, congregations, and governing bodies of Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and other faiths. Texas Impact exists to advance state public policies that are consistent with the shared values of Texas faith communities.
The non-profit works on a wide variety of public policy issues within the broadly held social concerns of mainstream religious traditions. Texas Impact uses a process of discernment on public policy issues like the processes used by many faith traditions, including Scripture, the wisdom of the faith traditions, current public policy information and data, and the experiential knowledge of people of faith to develop our positions and policy goals.
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