Tex. Health & Safety Code § 171.201 · Subchapter H. DETECTION OF FETAL HEARTBEAT
DEFINITIONS.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
In this subchapter:
(1) "Fetal heartbeat" means cardiac activity or the steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart within the gestational sac.
(2) "Gestational age" means the amount of time that has elapsed from the first day of a woman's last menstrual period.
(3) "Gestational sac" means the structure comprising the extraembryonic membranes that envelop the unborn child and that is typically visible by ultrasound after the fourth week of pregnancy.
(4) "Physician" means an individual licensed to practice medicine in this state, including a medical doctor and a doctor of osteopathic medicine.
(5) "Pregnancy" means the human female reproductive condition that:
(A) begins with fertilization;
(B) occurs when the woman is carrying the developing human offspring; and
(C) is calculated from the first day of the woman's last menstrual period.
(6) "Standard medical practice" means the degree of skill, care, and diligence that an obstetrician of ordinary judgment, learning, and skill would employ in like circumstances.
(7) "Unborn child" means a human fetus or embryo in any stage of gestation from fertilization until birth.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 62 (S.B. 8), Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 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 67931e3939e7c7ce2d14678f27d80598d1688a198623341bcfc1f1634ab8af75
- 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
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.