April 6, 2025
Putting Politics Aside, the State’s Two Largest Health Care Organizations Rally Behind Life of the Mother Act
Texas physicians and hospitals strongly support the Life of the Mother Act, a bill making its way through the legislative process to clarify Texas abortion laws and help ensure the lives of mothers are protected during a medical emergency.
House Bill 44 will be heard during the Texas House Committee on Public Health meeting, which convenes at 8 a.m. Monday, April 7. HB 44 and its companion, Senate Bill 31, are widely known as the Life of the Mother Act.
Signaling clear support for Texas mothers, the Texas Medical Association and Texas Hospital Association have banded together to push for the passage of this crucial legislation. The groups also express appreciation for the Texas lawmakers who have worked to write, navigate, compromise and support advancement in the Texas Legislature.
Representing more than 500 Texas hospitals and more than 59,000 physicians and medical students in Texas, THA and TMA were consulted on the particulars of the Act and weighed in with their health care perspectives. Texas hospitals and physicians are working together to advocate for the ability to provide the right care at the right time to mothers in distress while remaining in compliance with laws and regulations.
The Life of the Mother Act leaves the current Texas prohibition against abortion intact while offering clarity on medical emergency exceptions covering threats to the mother’s life or major bodily functions. The Act helps restore the ability of physicians to act quickly – and alleviates the fear of prosecution – to save the life of the mother and maintain her ability to have children in the future.
“At the end of the day, our hope is that political differences can be set aside, because at the heart of this is a pregnant mother whose health and safety is on the line,” said John Hawkins, president/CEO of THA. “Hospitals and doctors need to be able to act on the medical facts and merits in front of them, without fear of prosecution. We sincerely believe this will have an immediate and positive impact and help us provide life-saving care to our patients.”
“Physicians providing medically appropriate care for patients in these emergency complex pregnancy situations need the clarity this bill offers to be able to provide that care,” said Ezequiel “Zeke” Silva III, MD, chair of TMA’s Council on Legislation. “Texas physicians want to be able to preserve the life and health of the mother including her ability to have children in the future, while pregnant patients in these situations need assurance they can access the critical care they need.”
The Life of the Mother Act makes important clarifications regarding when and how physicians can intervene when pregnant women present to Texas hospitals with pregnancy complications. Since 2022, physicians and hospitals have been navigating four different abortion statutes that contain conflicting definitions and undefined terms, which created uncertainty in how they could intervene. The Life of the Mother Act would clarify the law by:
- Confirming that the burden of proof in criminal prosecutions on the medical emergency exceptions rests with the state and not the physician;
- Removing the term “life-threatening” in the Chapter 170A medical emergency exception to clarify treatment of a non-lethal risk of impairment of a major bodily function;
- Confirming that, at a minimum, physicians treating ectopic pregnancies and spontaneous abortions (i.e. actions that are not abortions) are always exercising reasonable medical judgment;
- Conforming the definition of “medical emergency” used in abortion laws to match the medical emergency exception of Chapter 170A, so hospitals and doctors are only working with one “medical emergency” standard across the abortion laws;
- Clarifying the definition of “ectopic pregnancy;”
- Clarifying that communications between physicians, hospital administrators and lawyers to help understand and navigate the medical emergency exception are not considered “aiding and abetting;” and
- Including a requirement that the appropriate agencies create or approve certain education for lawyers and doctors to better understand Texas’ abortion laws.
TMA and THA express appreciation for bill authors Sen. Bryan Hughes and Rep. Charlie Geren, their staff and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle for supporting this important legislation and allowing physicians and providers to engage in meaningful discussions to protect Texas patients.
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About TMA
TMA is the largest state medical society in the nation, representing more than 59,000 physician and medical student members. It is in Austin and has 110 component county medical societies around the state. TMA’s key objective since 1853 has been to improve the health of all Texans.
About THA
Founded in 1930, the Texas Hospital Association is the leadership organization and principal advocate for the state’s hospitals and health care systems. Based in Austin, THA enhances its members’ abilities to improve accessibility, quality and cost-effectiveness of health care for all Texans. One of the largest hospital associations in the country, THA represents more than 85% of the state’s acute-care hospitals and health care systems, which employ some 400,000 health care professionals statewide.
Contacts:
TMA:
Brent Annear (512)
370-1381; cell: (512) 656-7320
Swathi Narayanan (512) 370-1382; cell: (408) 987-1318
THA:
Carrie
Williams
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