Violence that harms an unborn child would be handled under the same criminal law as violence against a person born alive
What it does
HB 575 would define an unborn child at every stage of development, from fertilization until birth, as an individual under the Texas Penal Code. It would make the chapters on inchoate crimes and assault apply equally to an unborn victim, and it repeals older Penal Code sections written before those chapters covered unborn victims. The bill states as its purposes repealing laws that permit what it calls wilful prenatal homicide and assault, and laws that could be read as allowing a person to pressure a pregnant mother to obtain an abortion. It would not apply to unintentional injury or death from lifesaving procedures to save a pregnant mother or from a spontaneous miscarriage, and it takes effect Sept. 1, 2027 for offenses committed on or after that date.
What it means for your community
Police and prosecutors would have the same criminal charges available when an assault or another crime harms a fetus, and the civil wrongful death law would carry the same exceptions for emergency care and miscarriage. People who deliver babies or treat pregnant patients would be following the same rules that apply to any other patient. The change would reach only offenses committed on or after Sept. 1, 2027, and cases from before that date would be handled under the law that was in effect at the time.
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