87(R) SB 8 - Enrolled version - Bill Text

	S.B.  No.  8

	AN ACT
	relating to abortion, including abortions after detection of an
	unborn child's heartbeat; authorizing a private civil right of
	action.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION  1.    This Act shall be known as the Texas Heartbeat
	Act.
	SECTION  2.    The legislature finds that the State of Texas
	never repealed, either expressly or by implication, the state
	statutes enacted before the ruling in Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113
	(1973), that prohibit and criminalize abortion unless the mother's
	life is in danger.
	SECTION  3.    Chapter 171, Health and Safety Code, is amended
	by adding Subchapter H to read as follows:
	SUBCHAPTER H.  DETECTION OF FETAL HEARTBEAT
	Sec.  171.201.    DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
	(1)    "Fetal heartbeat" means cardiac activity or the
	steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart
	within the gestational sac.
	(2)    "Gestational age" means the amount of time that
	has elapsed from the first day of a woman's last menstrual period.
	(3)    "Gestational sac" means the structure comprising
	the extraembryonic membranes that envelop the unborn child and that
	is typically visible by ultrasound after the fourth week of
	pregnancy.
	(4)    "Physician" means an individual licensed to
	practice medicine in this state, including a medical doctor and a
	doctor of osteopathic medicine.
	(5)    "Pregnancy" means the human female reproductive
	condition that:
	(A)    begins with fertilization;
	(B)    occurs when the woman is carrying the
	developing human offspring; and
	(C)    is calculated from the first day of the
	woman's last menstrual period.
	(6)    "Standard medical practice" means the degree of
	skill, care, and diligence that an obstetrician of ordinary
	judgment, learning, and skill would employ in like circumstances.
	(7)    "Unborn child" means a human fetus or embryo in any
	stage of gestation from fertilization until birth.
	Sec.  171.202.    LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. The legislature finds,
	according to contemporary medical research, that:
	(1)    fetal heartbeat has become a key medical predictor
	that an unborn child will reach live birth;
	(2)    cardiac activity begins at a biologically
	identifiable moment in time, normally when the fetal heart is
	formed in the gestational sac;
	(3)    Texas has compelling interests from the outset of
	a woman's pregnancy in protecting the health of the woman and the
	life of the unborn child; and
	(4)    to make an informed choice about whether to
	continue her pregnancy, the pregnant woman has a compelling
	interest in knowing the likelihood of her unborn child surviving to
	full-term birth based on the presence of cardiac activity.
	Sec.  171.203.    DETERMINATION OF PRESENCE OF FETAL HEARTBEAT
	REQUIRED; RECORD.  (a)    For the purposes of determining the
	presence of a fetal heartbeat under this section, "standard medical
	practice" includes employing the appropriate means of detecting the
	heartbeat based on the estimated gestational age of the unborn
	child and the condition of the woman and her pregnancy.
	(b)    Except as provided by Section 171.205, a physician may
	not knowingly perform or induce an abortion on a pregnant woman
	unless the physician has determined, in accordance with this
	section, whether the woman's unborn child has a detectable fetal
	heartbeat.
	(c)    In making a determination under Subsection (b), the
	physician must use a test that is:
	(1)    consistent with the physician's good faith and
	reasonable understanding of standard medical practice; and
	(2)    appropriate for the estimated gestational age of
	the unborn child and the condition of the pregnant woman and her
	pregnancy.
	(d)    A physician making a determination under Subsection (b)
	shall record in the pregnant woman's medical record: