Tex. Health & Safety Code § 171.061 · Subchapter D. ABORTION-INDUCING DRUGS
DEFINITIONS.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
In this subchapter:
(1) "Abortion" has the meaning assigned by Section 245.002. This definition, as applied in this subchapter, may not be construed to apply to an act done with the intent to treat a maternal disease or illness for which a prescribed drug, medicine, or other substance is indicated.
(2) "Abortion-inducing drug" means a drug, a medicine, or any other substance, including a regimen of two or more drugs, medicines, or substances, prescribed, dispensed, or administered with the intent of terminating a clinically diagnosable pregnancy of a woman and with knowledge that the termination will, with reasonable likelihood, cause the death of the woman's unborn child. The term includes off-label use of drugs, medicines, or other substances known to have abortion-inducing properties that are prescribed, dispensed, or administered with the intent of causing an abortion, including the Mifeprex regimen, misoprostol (Cytotec), and methotrexate. The term does not include a drug, medicine, or other substance that may be known to cause an abortion but is prescribed, dispensed, or administered for other medical reasons.
(2-a) "Adverse event" or "abortion complication" means any harmful event or adverse outcome with respect to a patient related to an abortion, including the abortion complications listed in Section 171.006, as added by Chapter 4 (H.B. 13), Acts of the 85th Legislature, 1st Called Session, 2017.
(3) Repealed by Acts 2021, 87th Leg., 2nd C.S., Ch. 10 (S.B. 4), Sec. 7(1), eff. December 2, 2021.
(4) "Gestational age" means the amount of time that has elapsed since the first day of a woman's last menstrual period.
(5) "Medical abortion" means the administration or use of an abortion-inducing drug to induce an abortion, and may also be referred to as a "medication abortion," a "chemical abortion," a "drug-induced abortion," "RU-486," or the "Mifeprex regimen".
(6) Repealed by Acts 2021, 87th Leg., 2nd C.S., Ch. 10 (S.B. 4), Sec. 7(1), eff. December 2, 2021.
(7) "Physician" means an individual who is licensed to practice medicine in this state, including a medical doctor and a doctor of osteopathic medicine.
(8) "Pregnant" means the female reproductive condition of having an unborn child in a woman's uterus.
(8-a) "Provide" means, as used with regard to abortion-inducing drugs, any act of giving, selling, dispensing, administering, transferring possession, or otherwise providing or prescribing an abortion-inducing drug.
(9) "Unborn child" means an offspring of human beings from conception until birth.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., 2nd C.S., Ch. 1, Sec. 3, eff. October 29, 2013.
Amended by:
Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 441 (S.B. 8), Sec. 5, eff. September 1, 2017.
Acts 2021, 87th Leg., 2nd C.S., Ch. 10 (S.B. 4), Sec. 3, eff. December 2, 2021.
Acts 2021, 87th Leg., 2nd C.S., Ch. 10 (S.B. 4), Sec. 7(1), eff. December 2, 2021.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/HS/htm/HS.171.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 c519c9221eccaea1194f31ad384601237caef9c40b3ba0377e363ec47b3117eb
- Composed by
- compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character
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