AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas lawmaker who helped pioneer the state's restrictive abortion laws introduced a bill on Friday to clarify medical exceptions allowed under the law, representing a pivot from Republican legislators who have defended the state's abortion ban in the face of lawsuits and medical scrutiny.
The bill, introduced by Republican state Sen. Bryan Hughes, still requires that patients have a medical emergency for a physician to perform an abortion but strikes language that it be a life-threatening condition. The bill would also require doctors and lawyers to receive training about the law.
“We’ve learned in a number of cases where the physician was willing to treat the mom, but the lawyers for the hospital would advise against it,” Hughes said. “So one of the most important things we want to do is make sure that doctors and the hospital lawyers are trained on what the law is.”
Hughes' proposed legislation follows similar efforts by Kentucky lawmakers who added medical exceptions to their state's near-total abortion ban on Thursday.
Texas law currently prohibits abortions except when a pregnant patient has a life-threatening condition. Doctors who are convicted of providing an illegal abortion can face up to 99 years in prison, a $100,000 fine and lose their medical license.
Texas’ abortion laws are among the strictest in the nation and have survived multiple legal challenges since the overturning of Roe v. Wade from opponents who say the law is unclear about when medical exceptions are allowed.
Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the president of the Senate, has made the bill one of his legislative priorities, and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's office said he's open to supporting the legislation.
“Since the Dobbs decision, there have been 135 medically necessary abortions to save mothers’ lives in Texas with no repercussions for those physicians,” Abbott spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris said in a statement. “Governor Abbott looks forward to seeing any clarifying language in any proposed legislation from the legislature.”
For years, abortion rights advocates have criticized Texas’ abortion laws, which do not allow exceptions for cases of incest or rape, as too restrictive.
“No amount of attempted clarification from Texas lawmakers would suffice because abortion bans are dangerous,” said Ashley Gray, senior policy adviser for the Center for Reproductive Rights. “As long as you’re criminalizing doctors for providing care, patients will suffer.”
In 2024, the Texas Supreme Court said the state’s abortion laws were not too vague, ruling against a group of women who had serious pregnancy complications and were denied abortions. The Texas Medical Board has refused to list specific exceptions for doctors under the law.
Dallas mother Kate Cox was at the center of a separate lawsuit brought in 2023 for a similar issue after a court denied her permission to obtain an abortion after her fetus developed a fatal condition.
A group of more than 100 obstetricians and gynecologists across the state sent a letter in November to state officials urging them to reform the law after an investigation by ProPublica found three women had died after doctors had delayed treating their miscarriages.
Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
FILE - Abortion rights demonstrators attend a rally at the Texas state Capitol in Austin, Texas, May 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is postponing several scheduled events this week to promote his new book, “ Antisemitism in America: A Warning,” after some liberal groups had planned to stage protests.
The cancellations of events in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and other cities came amid widespread criticism from the party’s liberal base over Schumer’s vote to move forward with Republican spending legislation last week. Risa Heller, a representative for Schumer’s book, said the tour would be rescheduled “due to security concerns.”
Schumer said the spending bill was “terrible” but that a shutdown would have been far worse, and difficult to end, as President Donald Trump has already slashed jobs and funding for agencies across the government. A shutdown would have given Trump even more power to make cuts, Schumer said, “and so many programs would be lost.”
House Democrats strongly disagreed with Schumer’s decision and criticized him directly: “We will not be complicit,” Democratic leaders said in a joint statement.
The public rift among Democrats, and the onslaught of criticism toward Schumer, came after years of relative unity during Trump’s first term and during President Joe Biden's time in the White House. It's a reflection of how Democrats have become increasingly frustrated with their inability to stop Trump’s Cabinet confirmations and mass firings of federal workers.
At a news conference on Friday, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries repeatedly refused to say whether he has confidence in Schumer — a rare break for the two longtime New York colleagues.
“We do not want to shut down the government. But we are not afraid of a government funding showdown,” Jeffries said.
Schumer and Jeffries met in Brooklyn on Sunday, according to two people familiar with the meeting. But the discontent with Schumer went far beyond House leadership, and some of the nation’s most influential progressive groups warned of serious political consequences.
Ezra Levin, co-founder of Indivisible, wrote on social media last week that Democratic activists planned to express their anger at town halls or other public events. MoveOn, another progressive group that claims nearly 10 million members nationwide, predicted that its activists would also demand answers from Democratic officials.
“Clearing the way for Donald Trump and Elon Musk to gut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid is unacceptable. It’s past time for Democrats to fight and stop acting like it’s business as usual,” said Joel Payne, a spokesperson for MoveOn.
In Baltimore on Monday evening, some protesters still gathered outside the Enoch Pratt Free Library where Schumer was scheduled to speak. While the group was more focused on Schumer's strong support for Israel, some speakers criticized his decision to vote to move forward with the spending bill. Homemade signs read “Schumer is a coward” and “Chuck sold us out.”
One organizer celebrated that they had “pushed Chuck Schumer out of Baltimore,” to cheers.
“If Sen. Schumer wants to come back, we’ll be even more prepared,” said Nikki Morse, a spokesperson with the Baltimore chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace.
Associated Press writer Lea Skene in Baltimore contributed to this report.
A sign announcing that Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer's scheduled book tour event was postponed is seen in a window of the Central Library branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Demonstrators gather in front of the Central Library branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore after Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer's scheduled book tour event was postponed, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer gives a television interview, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Demonstrators gather in front of the Central Library branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore after Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer's scheduled book tour event was postponed, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
