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Texas Medical Board Provides Guidance on Legal Abortions
New training aims to clarify when doctors can legally terminate pregnancies to protect patients' lives
Feb. 7, 2026 at 9:15am
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For the first time since Texas criminalized abortion in 2021, the state's medical regulator is instructing doctors on when they can legally terminate a pregnancy to protect the life of the patient. The new training from the Texas Medical Board includes examples of when abortion is permitted, but medical and legal experts say the complications of pregnancy are too complex to capture in a brief presentation. The guidance comes after years of confusion and delays in care that have led to the deaths of some Texas women.
Why it matters
Texas' strict abortion ban, passed in 2021, has had severe consequences, with sepsis rates spiking and women dying after doctors feared providing timely reproductive care. The new guidance aims to clarify the law's medical exceptions, but many doctors remain concerned about the steep criminal penalties they could face if prosecuted.
The details
The Texas Medical Board's new training assures doctors they can now legally provide abortions, even when a patient's life isn't imminently in danger, and goes over nine example scenarios. However, experts say the case studies represent only the most straightforward situations doctors encounter, and the complications of pregnancy are too varied and complex to capture in a brief presentation. The training also does not address how to care for patients with chronic conditions that make pregnancy high-risk. Doctors remain concerned about the legal risks, even with the new guidance, as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has overruled medical judgement in the past.
- In 2021, Texas passed a strict abortion ban.
- In 2024, the Texas Medical Board released limited guidance stating providers don't need to wait until a pregnant woman is on the brink of death to intervene.
- In 2025, the Texas Legislature passed the Life of the Mother Act, which required the medical board to create new guidance for doctors by January 1, 2026.
The players
Texas Medical Board
The state's medical regulator that is providing new training to doctors on when they can legally terminate a pregnancy to protect the life of the patient.
Ken Paxton
The Texas Attorney General who has overruled doctors' medical judgement in the past regarding abortions.
Josseli Barnica
A Texas woman who died after doctors would not empty her uterus while there was still a fetal heartbeat, despite her being diagnosed with an 'inevitable' miscarriage and at high risk of dangerous infection.
Tierra Walker
A San Antonio woman with diabetes and high blood pressure who endured repeated hospitalizations and escalating symptoms before she died, with doctors dismissing her requests for an abortion to protect her health.
Kate Cox
A Texas woman who sought an abortion at 20 weeks after learning the fetus had a fatal genetic anomaly, but was denied the procedure despite her doctors arguing it was necessary to protect her health.
What they’re saying
“I could probably list 100 different situations that would cause people to pause and say, 'Wow, does that fit into the law?'”
— Dr. Tony Ogburn, OB-GYN practicing in Texas (ProPublica)
“But having to defend your decision is still scary.”
— Dr. Damla Karsan, OB-GYN based in Houston (ProPublica)
“The problem isn't our doctors. It's that pregnancy is too complicated to legislate.”
— Kate Cox (ProPublica)
What’s next
The judge in the Kate Cox case will decide whether to allow the abortion that was denied by the Texas Attorney General.
The takeaway
The new medical training from the Texas Medical Board aims to provide clarity for doctors on when they can legally perform abortions to protect a patient's life, but many experts say the complexities of pregnancy make it impossible to fully capture in a brief presentation. Doctors remain concerned about the steep criminal penalties they could face, even with the new guidance.
