New reporting requirements for life

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Doctors who perform life-saving abortions may soon be required to document whether they first tried to transfer the patient to another facility to avoid terminating the pregnancy, a move some say goes beyond the language of the law.

Health lawyers and doctors worry this proposed requirement further disincentivizes doctors from performing medically necessary, but legally risky, abortions.

“This creates even more uncertainty for doctors who were already concerned,” said Rachael Gearing, a Dallas health care lawyer who represents OB/GYN clinics. “It’s basically saying, ‘Well, you should have passed your patient off to someone else who would have held out longer and wouldn’t have done the abortion.’”

Texas’ laws allow abortions to save a patient’s life, but doctors have struggled to apply that exception in practice, especially when faced with up to life in prison, fines and the loss of their medical license.