Health care
BY HANNAH NORTON
Health Care Edition
2024
5/13/24, 12:03 PM
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Community Impact 's annual Health Care Edition features news on the timeliest topics in the industry. Content ranges from major health care developments to listings of nearby health care facilities. Articles within this guide are focused on local topics a ecting your community, the metro and the state of Texas, and are written by our team of journalists to meet our mission of providing trusted news and information everyone gets.
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What's inside
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Updated local clinics and ER listings (Page 14)
Area hospitals receive top safety ratings (Page 17)
Texas Medical Board considers exceptions to abortion ban
After months of pressure, the Texas Medical Board proposed narrow medical exceptions to the state’s near-total abortion ban during its March 22 meeting. The board has been silent on the issue since Texas’ “trigger law” took e ect in August 2022, banning nearly all abortions except to save a pregnant person’s life or prevent serious injury. The law does not include exceptions for rape or incest. The board opted to consider new guidance following months of calls for clarity from patients, doctors and lawmakers. On May 31, the Texas Supreme Court unanimously upheld the law, ruling against 22 women who argued the law is too broad for doctors to intervene when women experience severe pregnancy complications. The medical board relied on existing state statutes to craft its proposed rule. It did not list exceptions for speci c medical conditions, instead deferring to physicians to determine when an emergency abortion is necessary. The rule de nes an emergency as “a life-threat- ening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy that, as certi ed by a physician, places the woman in danger of death or a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function unless an abortion is performed.” Board President Dr. Sherif Zaafran said the
Breaking down the law According to state data, 80 abortions were performed in Texas between August 2022—when the “trigger law” took e ect—and December 2023. All of these procedures were performed in hospitals, and no patients died. The state has not yet released data for 2024.
• A pregnancy can be terminated if the patient has “a life-threatening physical condition” or faces “a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function.” • Physicians who violate the abortion ban face life in prison, at least $100,000 in ines and the loss of their medical license. The state law, which was passed in 2021 and took e ect in August 2022, says:
60K 50K 40K 30K 20K 10K 0
53,949 50,783
January-July: 17,194 August-December: 18
17,212
62
2020
2021
2022
2023
*IN STATE FOR TEXAS RESIDENTS
SOURCES: TEXAS HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION, TEXAS LEGISLATURE ONLINE COMMUNITY IMPACT
board has the ability to “enforce the law as it’s written,” but the law can only be altered “through the legislative process.” Stay tuned Dozens of Texans shared their concerns about the law’s ambiguity and the risks doctors face when terminating nonviable pregnancies during a virtual public hearing May 20. The board is expected to discuss the proposed rule June 20-21, although it is
unclear when the rule will be approved. Texans can submit comments about the proposal on the Texas Medical Board website. “I know this is an emotional issue,” Zaafran said May 20. “And I know that there’s some very strong feelings one way or the other. We as a medical board are trying, as best we can, to stay within the constraints of the law while helping give clarity to the physicians as to how they can navigate these issues.”
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NORTHEAST SAN ANTONIO METROCOM EDITION
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