Gov. Abbott signs Hughes’ Life of the Mother abortion bill

TYLER, Texas (KETK) – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed East Texas State Senator Bryan Hughes’ Life of the Mother bill into law on Friday to clarify Texas’ ban on abortion for doctors.

Senate Bill 31, also known as the Life of the Mother Act, clears up language from the abortion ban law that Texas passed in 2022. According to Hughes, the bill is designed to make sure that women having medical emergencies can get an abortion.

“This bill is to look at our pro-life laws and make the language even clearer, so there’s no question, no excuse when a mom presents with a medical emergency, she gets treated,” State Hughes said in March.

The bill includes a number of edits and clarifications to the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code and the Texas Health and Safety Code. One change is to the definition of the term “life-threatening” which now includes conditions which may not be actively injuring a patient.

“For the purposes of Subsection (b)(2),”life-threatening” means capable of causing death or potentially fatal. A life-threatening physical condition is not necessarily one actively injuring the patient,” the text of Senate Bill 31 states.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick thanked Hughes in a statement after the bill was unanimously passed by the Texas Senate on April 29.

“Since 2021, abortions in Texas have essentially ceased,” Patrick said. “As a Christian and a conservative, I celebrate that tens of thousands of tiny Texans have been saved and that Texas has led the way in protecting life nationwide. SB 31, which is only designed to provide legal clarity for doctors in rare cases when a mother’s life is threatened, is supported by Texas Right to Life, Texas Alliance for Life, and other life groups. I thank Sen. Hughes for his continued passionate defense of life.”

Blair Wallace, a policy and advocacy strategist with the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas also commented on the passage of Senate Bill 31 by the Texas Senate, calling the bill a political stunt.

“While some legislators supported S.B. 31, hoping to mitigate the harm Texans are facing, this bill wasn’t written with our needs in mind. This bill is a political stunt designed to distract us from the damage the state’s abortion ban continues to cause,” Wallace said on May 21. “Pregnancy is too personal and too complex for politicians to legislate. S.B. 31 doesn’t undo the harm of the state’s abortion ban, and it never could. No amount of ‘clarification’ can fix a fundamentally unjust law. The only real solution is a full repeal of Texas’ abortion ban and a commitment to ensuring reproductive freedom for all Texans — no exceptions.”

Click here to read the full text of Senate Bill 31, which will go into effect as state law on Sept. 1.