AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas medical panel on Friday approved guidance for doctors working under one of the nation's most restrictive abortion bans but refused to list specific exceptions to the law, which doctors have complained is dangerously unclear.
The decision by the Texas Medical Board came less than a month after the state Supreme Court upheld the law that had been challenged by doctors and a group of women who argued it stopped them from getting medical care even when their pregnancies became dangerous.
The board's refusal to adopt specific exemptions to the Texas abortion ban was not a surprise. The same panel in March rebuffed calls to list specific exemptions, and the head of the board said doing so would have been beyond state law and the board's authority. All 16 members of the board, which includes only one obstetrician and gynecologist, were appointed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who signed the state's abortion ban into law in 2021.
The board, however, modified some of the most controversial reporting requirements for doctors, allowing them seven days to submit documentation about why they provided an emergency or medically necessary abortion. Doctors had previously complained they were required to do that before intervening, even during medical emergencies.
The new guidance also eliminated a provision that said doctors should document whether they tried to transfer a patient to avoid performing an abortion. And it echoed the state Supreme Court's ruling that a doctor does not have to wait until there is a medical emergency to perform an abortion to save the life or protect the health of the mother.
Texas law prohibits abortions except when a pregnant patient has a life-threatening condition. A doctor convicted of providing an illegal abortion in Texas can face up to 99 years in prison, a $100,000 fine and lose their medical license.
The medical board can take away the license of a doctor found to have performed an illegal abortion, and its findings could be used by prosecutors to pursue criminal charges or civil penalties.
“What is black and white are the exceptions. What is gray is the medical judgment,” said Dr. Sherif Zaafran, president of the board.
After the U.S. Supreme Court ended abortion rights in June 2022, vaguely worded bans in some Republican-controlled states have caused confusion over how exceptions should be applied.
LuAnn Morgan, a non-physician member of the Texas board, said she did not want to see women turned away from treatment because a physician was afraid of the consequences.
“I just want to make sure that they’re covered by these rules and not turned away because of a physician or ER are afraid of a persecution," Morgan said.
FILE - Texas Medical Board members, from left, Sharon Barnes, Dr. Manuel Quinones, Executive Director Brint Carlton, and Dr. Sherif Zaafran, listen to public comments during a meeting to discuss guidance around physicians for medical exceptions to the state's abortion ban laws at the George H.W. Bush State Office Building in Austin, Texas, March 22, 2024. On Friday, June 21, the Texas Medical Board approved guidance for doctors working under one of the nation's most restrictive abortion bans but refused to list specific exceptions to the law, which doctors have complained is dangerously unclear. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP, File)
FORDYCE, Ark. (AP) — A steady rain was falling outside Fordyce High School, but that didn't deter an army of volunteers who raced to hand out jugs of milk and bags of groceries to a line of cars snaked around the parking lot.
In the days since a shooter killed four people and injured 10 others at the Mad Butcher grocery, this town of 3,200 people has been grieving and grappling with the shock of a mass killing. But the community has also faced the void left by the temporary closure of its only grocery store.
While the Mad Butcher’s workers have been cleaning up from the aftermath of the violence in the south Arkansas store, residents have few nearby alternatives. Though the town has a Walmart and discount retailers with some food options, the closest grocery stores or supermarkets are located in neighboring cities at least half an hour away.
“A lot of people don't have the ability to get there or elderly people don't want to go that far,” said Darrin Brazil, the school's basketball coach, who organized the food pickup with two former classmates. “We just want to do that for the community for help people that really need that.”
The school, a city facility and churches are among sites set up for residents to pick up groceries while the store is closed and being cleaned up.
The struggle has highlighted concerns about “food deserts,” areas without access to affordable, healthy food nearby. Similar efforts sprung up in Buffalo in 2022 after a white supremacist killed 10 people at a supermarket.
"It’s a basic need that people have. It’s kind of bringing us together, to be honest," said Roderick Rogers, a city council member and pastor. “We’re trying to respond with love to overcome this tragedy.”
The front of the Mad Butcher was still riddled with bullets on Wednesday as workers were inside cleaning up and making repairs. A makeshift memorial for the victims — including crosses, flowers and candles — was set up next to the parking lot.
A banner reading “#WeAreFordyceStrong” hung under the store's name and green awning.
“Temporarily closed” signs were taped to the store's front doors. “Please pray for our community," they said.
Police have not given a motive for the shooting. Travis Eugene Posey, 44, pleaded not guilty this week to four counts of capital murder and ten counts of attempted capital murder and is being held in a neighboring county's jail without bond. Posey was injured after a shootout with police officers who responded to the attack, authorities said.
Police have said Posey was armed with a handgun and a shotgun, and multiple gunshot victims were found in the store and its parking lot. Authorities have said Posey did not appear to have a personal connection to any of the victims.
Many of the volunteers stocking up bags and handing them out at the school on Wednesday knew the victims or someone who was in the store as the shooting unfolded.
“The whole city of Fordyce is hurting over this,” said Elvis Smith, the maintenance director for the school district. His wife was in the store during the attack and escaped through a back door.
Houchens Industries, the Kentucky-based company that owns Mad Butcher, said it expected to reopen the store in the coming week, Little Rock television station KTHV reported.
Residents driving through the school's parking lot said they hoped it would be sooner rather than later.
“You definitely don't know what to do,” said Jayda Carlson, who dropped by the school to pick up groceries with her grandmother-in-law on Wednesday. "Am I going to have to spend more money on gas to get groceries and stuff that we need?”
FILE - Police respond to the scene of a shooting, Friday, June 21, 2024, in Fordyce, Ark. (KATV via AP, File)
Damage can be seen to a front window law enforcement officers work the scene of a shooting at the Mad Butcher grocery store in Fordyce, Ark., Friday, June 21, 2024. (Colin Murphey/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via AP)
A sign in memory of the four victims killed in a mass shooting at the Mad Butcher grocery store sits near the store's parking lot in Fordyce, Ark., on Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo)
Volunteers hand out bags of groceries and jugs of milk to cars lined up at Fordyce High School in Fordyce, Arkansas on Wednesday, June 26, 2024. The school is one of several food distribution sites that have been set up to help residents after a mass shooting at the Mad Butcher grocery store. (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo)
Signs are taped to the front doors of the Mad Butcher grocery store in Fordyce, Ark. on Wednesday, June 26, 2024. The store has been closed in the days following a mass shooting that killed four people, and volunteers in the community have been setting up food distribution sites to help residents. (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo)
Volunteers hand out bags of groceries and jugs of milk to cars lined up at Fordyce High School in Fordyce, Ark., Wednesday, June 26, 2024. The school is one of several food distribution sites that have been set up to help residents after a mass shooting at the Mad Butcher grocery store. (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo)
Trucks sit parked in front of the Mad Butcher grocery store in Fordyce, Ark., Wednesday, June 26, 2024. The store has remained closed in the days following a mass shooting that killed four people, prompting volunteers to scramble to set up food distribution sites for residents. (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo)
