The Texas Medical Board’s proposed rule clarifying Texas’ abortion ban exception is open for public comment. The public comment period will last at least until the Board’s next meeting, which is June 20, 2024, and could last longer if the Board decides to extend it. If you have comments about the rule, now is the time to speak up. Before you make your comments, you’ll want to read through the proposed rule, which you can find here.
There are four ways to submit a comment:
Option 1
Send an email
Texas Impact has set up a “click to email” form so you can type in your comment and email it to the Medical Board.
Option 2
Fill out a questionnaire
The Medical Board has set up a questionnaire-style comment form on their online portal. The form is very prescriptive about how you must structure your responses, so if you just want to make a general comment, sending an email (Option 1) probably is a better bet.
Option 3
Sign a petition
You can sign and share Texas Impact’s petition to the Medical Board. Our petition will be submitted as a single public comment with thousands of signatories. We won’t submit it till the end of the comment period.
Option 4
Print and mail
Texas Impact has created a printable comment form that you can fill out and mail back to us. This is a good option for collecting comments in your congregation or group. You can collect completed forms and either mail them to us or scan and email them. We will deliver paper forms to the Medical Board.
No matter how you make your comment, we hope you’ll take two additional steps after you make it.
First, we hope you’ll let your legislators know that you submitted a comment—they will be eager to know that their constituents are participating in the process.
Second, we hope you’ll tell other folks in your community. State agency rulemaking can feel like “inside baseball,” and it’s helpful for people to know that their friends and neighbors are involved in the process. You could post about it on social media, for example.
Here’s the printable comment form to use in your congregation or group. You can collect signatures and either mail them to us or scan and email them.
Before you make your comments, you’ll want to read through the proposed rule, which you can find here.