How Texas lawmakers are addressing abortion ban exceptions, violations in 2025

For the 2025 Texas legislative session, lawmakers have filed bills to both expand exceptions to the state's near-total abortion ban and make it easier to prosecute violations of the law.

The current policy requires doctors to use their "reasonable medical judgment" when determining if they need to terminate a pregnancy to save a patient's life or major bodily function.

Republican politicians and anti-abortion advocates say the exceptions are clear and adequate , but dozens of women have reported delayed or denied care, sometimes resulting in permanent health consequences . At least two Texas women have died in hospitals after their miscarriage care was delayed under the state's abortion bans, including an 18-year-old and a Houston mother .

Over 100 Texas OB-GYNs signed an open letter in November urging elected officials to change the law so they can better treat patients.

"The nature of the strict abortion ban in Texas does not allow us as medical professionals to do our jobs," the letter said. "The law does not allow Texas women to get the lifesaving care they need and threatens physicians with life imprisonment and loss of licensure for doing what is often medically necessary for the patient's health and future fertility."

Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, is trying to do so with House Bill 257 . It authorizes physicians to use their "best medical judgment" when determining what is necessary to save the life or major bodily function of the patient. This decision cannot be overridden by a medical review process.

The policy adds exceptions to legalize abortion when necessary to preserve a patient's future fertility or mental health. It also allows the procedure when the fetus will not survive after birth or "is incompatible with life without extraordinary medical interventions."

The bill changes the current law's politically-charged term "unborn child" to the more scientific words "fetus" and "embryo."

Howard's House Bill 395 legalizes abortion in the case of rape. It does not require the patient to file a police report, provide forensic evidence or obtain prosecution of the alleged offense.

A January study found Texas had the most rape-related pregnancies out of the then-14 states with total abortion bans after the U.S. Supreme Court repealed Roe v. Wade in 2022. Between July 2022 and January 2024, an estimated 26,000 Texans became pregnant as a result of rape.

Democrats in the Texas Senate filed companion pieces to both bills in the upper house. While a majority of Texans support legal access to abortion in the case of rape , some Texas Republican lawmakers do not endorse such exceptions.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz repeatedly avoided the subject on the 2024 campaign trail, but previously said he does not support rape and incest exceptions. Recently reelected state Rep. John Lujan, R-San Antonio, said in September that if he had a daughter, he would have her carry a rape-related pregnancy instead of receiving an abortion.

While some Texas politicians are seeking further exceptions to the state's abortion ban, others are pursuing ways to make it easier to prosecute violations of the law.

Texas Rep. Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands, filed House Bill 1004 , authorizing the attorney general to unilaterally prosecute cases regarding certain crimes, including abortion. This means the attorney general can become involved in cases without being asked to do so by a district or county attorney.

Current Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has demonstrated that he will bring charges against doctors for ending pregnancies if he doesn't agree the medical emergency clause applies. In 2023, he threatened to sue "anyone" involved in Kate Cox's court-approved emergency abortion because he didn't think her pregnancy complications were life-threatening.