Texas doctors are trying to make sure people know their abortion rights during medical emergencies, even as some doctors say the new law doesn’t go far enough.
More than a year after the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 31, also known as the Life of the Mother Act, the law remains a source of anxiety for many doctors and confusion for many patients. The measure changed the state’s abortion ban, which now allows terminations only when a woman’s life or a major bodily function is at risk. Doctors who violate the ban could face up to $100,000 fines, loss of their medical license and extensive prison time.
The Law’s Core Shift
The law passed with bipartisan support after extensive debate and key amendments. It clarified that a pregnant person’s death or impairment does not have to be “imminent” before a doctor can act. It also confirmed the burden of proof is on the state, which must show “no reasonable doctor” would have provided an abortion in the same situation.
Dr. Deborah Fuller, a Dallas-based OB-GYN, said during a hearing for SB 31’s House companion bill last year: “I know this bill will help save women’s lives.” She serves on the advisory committee for “Asking for a Mom,” a campaign by the Texas Campaign for Mothers, a nonprofit that lobbied for SB 31. The campaign provides brightly colored fliers for clinics with facts on when women can and can’t receive an abortion.
The flier text reads: “You deserve timely, appropriate medical care.”
Fuller said the law is working and has eased many doctors’ anxieties but noted most patients haven’t heard of it.
Training Requirements and Scenarios
Senate Bill 31 requires Texas OB-GYNs, ER doctors and family medicine physicians to complete online education on the law to renew their licenses. The Texas Medical Board’s course covers about 40 slides and includes a scenario of a pregnant woman needing chemotherapy where termination would be allowed.
Some doctors have not yet taken the TMB’s training because they renew licenses every two years.
Dr. Charles Brown, a Central Texas OB-GYN, is assisting with in-person trainings at medical schools and other clinical settings. Brown estimates he has visited at least a dozen medical residency programs for in-person training.
Brown said he defers detailed legal questions to legal advice. TMB training defines reasonable medical judgment as “judgment made by a reasonably prudent physician who is knowledgeable about a case and the treatment possibilities for the medical condition involved.”
One slide reads: “Bottom line: if you are practicing evidence-based medicine, following standard emergency protocols, and documenting appropriately, the legal risk of prosecution is extremely low.”
Criticism From Within the Profession
Not all doctors agree the law went far enough. Dr. Damla Karsan, a Houston-based physician challenging Texas’ abortion law in lawsuits, said SB 31 “didn’t go near far enough,” citing the exclusion of lethal fetal anomalies.
Karsan said she feels confusion persists among many doctors and there’s still fear.
“I really felt like we needed to clear the air to try and get back on track to let the physicians do what they know how to do.”
The State of Play
| Stage | Timeline |
|---|---|
| Law passed | More than a year ago |
| Renewal cycle | Every two years |
| Residency visits | At least a dozen by Brown |
| Flier message | “You deserve timely, appropriate medical care” |
The law’s passage came after months of debate. The burden-of-proof shift is central to how the law operates in practice.
Doctors who take the training now face a choice: wait until renewal or take it early. Those who haven’t yet completed it are operating without the updated guidance.
The campaign’s fliers are designed to reach patients directly. They carry a simple message about care, but the law itself remains complex enough that doctors continue to train on it in person.
What This Means for Patients
The law’s clarity for doctors is not matched by public awareness. Fuller’s own assessment — that most patients haven’t heard of the law — suggests the campaign’s fliers are only part of the solution.
The law’s protections are real for doctors who understand them, but they are abstract for patients who don’t know they exist.
The law’s burden-of-proof requirement means the state must justify prosecution rather than leaving doctors guessing.
The campaign’s fliers are a step toward patient awareness, but more work remains. Doctors need to train. Patients need to know the law exists. And the law’s critics are right that its limits remain real, especially on lethal fetal anomalies.
For now, the law is in effect, the fliers are out, and the doctors are teaching each other what the law actually means.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs doctors who want to inform patients of their abortion rights during emergencies and is against rules that raise the cost of entry for small practices while protecting the biggest ones. The Texas Medical Board’s training requirements, including the $100,000 fines and license risks tied to the Life of the Mother Act, look like precisely that kind of rule.
The law was passed with bipartisan support and key amendments, and it includes a strong burden-of-proof shift favoring doctors. But the training requirements place a compliance cost on every OB-GYN, ER doctor and family medicine physician in the state, and the flier campaign reaches patients only partially. The paper wants oversight narrow and aimed at actual harm, not broad rulebooks written by an agency.
Doctors are training in person at medical schools and residency programs, and some have not yet taken the TMB’s online course because licenses renew every two years. The law’s critics, including Dr. Damla Karsan, are right that its limits remain real, especially on lethal fetal anomalies. The paper supports doctors informing patients of their rights but wants any training requirements aimed narrowly at the harm the law addresses, not used to raise costs for small practices.
Source material: “These Texas doctors want to make sure people know their abortion rights during medical emergencies,” Houston Public Media.
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