Bill Text: TX HB2350 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to prohibition of abortion; creating a civil penalty offense; providing for a civil cause of action.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 19-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-04-01 - Left pending in committee [HB2350 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HB2350-Introduced.html
By: Capriglione | H.B. No. 2350 |
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relating to prohibition of abortion; creating a civil penalty | ||
offense; providing for a civil cause of action. | ||
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; CIVIL OFFENSE. (a) A | ||
person may not knowingly perform or induce or attempt to perform or | ||
induce an abortion intended to cause the death of an unborn child. | ||
(b) A person commits a civil offense if an unborn child dies | ||
or 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. | ||
Sec. 50.03. CIVIL PENALTY. A physician or health care | ||
facility that violates this section is subject to a civil penalty of | ||
$500 for each violation. The attorney general, at the request of the | ||
commission or appropriate licensing agency, may file an action to | ||
recover a civil penalty assessed under this section and may recover | ||
attorney's fees and costs incurred in bringing the action. Each day | ||
of a continuing violation constitutes a separate ground for | ||
recovery. | ||
Sec. 50.04. CIVIL REMEDIES UNAFFECTED. The fact that | ||
conduct is a civil offense under this section does not abolish or | ||
impair any remedy for the conduct that is available in a civil suit. | ||
Sec. 50.05. CIVIL ACTION; PROVIDING REMEDIES. (a) Unless | ||
the abortion is performed pursuant to the exception provided in | ||
Section 50.02(c), a woman on whom an abortion, as defined by Section | ||
245.002, Health and Safety Code, is performed or attempted, the | ||
father of the unborn child or a parent of the mother of the unborn | ||
child, if the mother is younger than 18 years of age at the time of | ||
the abortion, may bring a civil action to obtain appropriate relief | ||
for causing the unborn child to die or sustain bodily injury as a | ||
result of the abortion, including: | ||
(1) money damages for physical injury, mental anguish, | ||
and emotional distress; and | ||
(2) exemplary damages equal to three times the cost of | ||
the abortion. | ||
(b) A person may not bring or maintain an action under this | ||
section if: | ||
(1) the person consented to the abortion; or | ||
(2) the person's injurious conduct resulted in the | ||
pregnancy. | ||
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. |