relating to the continuation and functions of the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners, Texas State Board of Physician Assistant Examiners, and Texas State Board of Acupuncture Examiners and the regulation of health care professions regulated by those state agencies; providing administrative penalties.

§ 170.002. PROHIBITED ACTS; EXEMPTION. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a person may not intentionally or knowingly perform an abortion on a woman who is pregnant with a viable unborn child during the third trimester of the pregnancy.

(b) Subsection (a) does not prohibit a person from performing an abortion if at the time of the abortion the person is a physician and concludes in good faith according to the physician's best medical judgment that:
(1) the fetus is not a viable fetus and the pregnancy is not in the third trimester;
(2) the abortion is necessary to prevent the death or a substantial risk of serious impairment to the physical or mental health of the woman; or
(3) the fetus has a severe and irreversible
abnormality, identified by reliable diagnostic procedures.
(c) A physician who performs an abortion that, according to the physician's best medical judgment at the time of the abortion, is to abort a viable unborn child during the third trimester of the pregnancy shall certify in writing to the
department, on a form prescribed by the department, the medical indications supporting the physician's judgment that the abortion was authorized by Subsection (b)(2) or (3). The certification must be made not later than the 30th day after the date the abortion was performed.

1. the woman will otherwise die,

2. the fetus is diagnosed with "severe and
irreversible brain damage," or

3. the woman is diagnosed with imminent "severe and irreversible brain damage or paralysis."

Democratic reps Patrick Rose, Rafael Anchía, Pete Gallego, Trey Martínez-Fischer, Eddie Rodriguez, Melissa Noriega, Ruth Jones McClendon, Craig Eiland and others rose repeatedly to fight this thing as hard as they could, and even Republicans Dan Branch, Ruben Hope and Beverly Woolley tried to persuade Hartnett to extend a little mercy to women who face cancer, major organ failure or other grave threats to their health.

Here are some examples of what I heard today from Hartnett and his friends, some of whom authored anti-choice bills of their own. I might have missed a word or two while I was throwing up, but this is what my scribbled notes say.

Bill Zedler: "C. Everett Koop never saw an incidence where a late-term abortion saved the life of the mother."

Patrick Rose: "Are you saying that you personally talked to the former surgeon general?"

Zedler: "Go and ask him."

Rose: "Was he an obstetrician?"

Zedler: "He was a pediatrician. He was around them all the time."

Beverly Woolley: "Can a fetus live without other vital organs (besides the brain)?"

Hartnett: "They can do transplants."

Woolley: "These are vital organs. That’s V-I-T-A-L, I think. You can live without anything but a brain? Can you live without a heart? A liver?"

Hartnett: "You can live without anything but a brain. Sure, you can live without just about anything."

"Do we give a doctor the ability to kill a child because of a concern about vital organs?"

"We need to protect children given the priorities of mothers in our society."

"It’s our job to protect the Constitutional right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for viable unborn children."

"We don’t punish citizens for the mistakes of the parents."

"Impairment to a woman’s health" can’t justify abortion when "we could be killing off Einstein" just because "a woman might have some organ damage."