Published

May 05, 2025

AUSTIN, TX — Yesterday’s release of the latest Induced Termination of Pregnancy (ITOP) report from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission confirms the need for the Legislature to pass SB 31, the Life of the Mother Act, which will educate doctors and attorneys about Texas’ abortion laws. The reports show during the first 30 months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, July 2022 through December 2024, doctors reported performing 157 abortions, approximately 5 per month, under the medical necessity exception of the Human Life Protection Act without any legal or administrative consequences. At the same time, reported monthly elective abortions have plummeted to zero. While some doctors and hospital attorneys erroneously believe that abortion laws prevent them from performing abortions to prevent a pregnant woman’s death or impairment of a major bodily function, no doctor has been prosecuted, sued, or sanctioned for any of those abortions. No woman has lost her life for lack of an exception in the law.

“Doctors and hospital attorneys need the education that SB 31 will provide so that they are completely confident that Texas law allows doctors to provide medically necessary abortions in rare and tragic situations when a mother’s life or health is at risk,” said Amy O’Donnell, Communications Director for Texas Alliance for Life.

Texas Alliance for Life applauds the Senate’s passage this week of SB 31, authored by Sen. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola). SB 31 ensures that physicians and hospital attorneys receive Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Continuing Legal Education (CLE) on how the law’s medical necessity exception works in practice. SB 31 also harmonizes statutory language across Texas’ pro-life framework so that each medical exception in the law references the exception language in the Human Life Protection Act. The House is expected to consider SB 31 before the end of session on June 2.

“SB 31 is a vital step toward ensuring that no pregnant woman ever receives inadequate or unnecessarily delayed treatment due to uncertainty or misinformation,” O’Donnell added. “We are grateful to Senator Hughes and the Texas Senate for advancing this legislation that promotes education for physicians and attorneys and consistency and compassion for mothers and their unborn children.”

CONTACT:
Amy O’Donnell, Communications Director
512.477.1244 (o)
amy@texasallianceforlife.org

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