Texas Abortion Statute: Exceptions, Penalties, and SB 8 Lawsuits

Texas abortion law bans the procedure at every stage of pregnancy, with one narrow exception for a licensed physician acting to save the patient’s life or prevent serious impairment of a major bodily function. Providers who violate the ban face 5 to 99 years or life in prison, a criminal fine of up to $10,000, a civil penalty of at least $100,000 per violation, mandatory loss of their medical license, and separate private lawsuits under Senate Bill 8. The patient who receives an abortion is not criminally or civilly liable.

What the Ban Covers

Chapter 170A of the Texas Health and Safety Code makes it illegal for anyone to knowingly perform, induce, or attempt an abortion at any stage of pregnancy.¹ This is the trigger ban enacted through House Bill 1280, which took effect in August 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. A second layer, the Texas Heartbeat Act (Senate Bill 8), prohibits abortion after detection of fetal cardiac activity and remains in force alongside the trigger ban.²

Liability reaches well beyond the physician performing the procedure. SB 8 covers anyone who “knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets” an abortion, including reimbursing the cost through insurance.³ That broad wording has created real uncertainty for anyone providing money, logistical help, or referrals inside Texas.

The patient herself is not on the hook. Section 170A.003 explicitly shields the pregnant person who receives or attempts to receive an abortion from criminal, civil, and administrative liability.⁴

The Medical Exception

A licensed physician may perform an abortion when the patient has a life-threatening physical condition that places her at risk of death or poses a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function.¹ There is no exception for rape, incest, or lethal fetal anomalies.⁵

In June 2025, Governor Abbott signed Senate Bill 31, the Life of the Mother Act, to clarify how the exception works after years of hospitals and physicians hesitating to act.⁶ The revised §170A.002 provides three clarifications, effective June 20, 2025:

The risk of death or serious impairment does not need to be imminent. A physician can act before harm materializes.
A physician does not have to wait until the condition has already caused physical damage.
“Life-threatening” now means “capable of causing death or potentially fatal.” The condition does not need to be actively injuring the patient at the moment of treatment.

When a physician acts under the exception, the treatment must be carried out in a way that gives the unborn child the best chance of survival, unless that approach would create a greater risk to the patient. The exception also does not apply if the claimed risk comes from a physician’s belief that the patient might harm herself.

Criminal Penalties for Providers

A completed abortion in which the unborn child dies is a first-degree felony. The punishment range is 5 to 99 years or life in prison, plus a fine of up to $10,000.⁷ An attempted abortion where the pregnancy continues is a second-degree felony, carrying 2 to 20 years and a fine of up to $10,000.⁴ A conviction triggers mandatory revocation of the physician’s medical license.

The attorney general can pursue a separate civil penalty of at least $100,000 for each violation, along with attorney’s fees and costs.⁸ A single procedure outside the medical exception can therefore expose a physician to prison, a $10,000 criminal fine, a $100,000 minimum civil penalty, license loss, and additional private suits under SB 8.

Private Civil Lawsuits Under SB 8

SB 8 lets private citizens sue anyone who performs or aids an abortion after fetal cardiac activity is detected, which is typically around six weeks. Any person can bring the suit. The only carve-out is that state and local government employees cannot sue in their official capacity.³ The plaintiff does not need to live in Texas or have any connection to the abortion.

A winning plaintiff must be awarded at least $10,000 in statutory damages for each abortion that violated the law, plus costs and attorney’s fees.³ A defendant who wins cannot recover costs or attorney’s fees, no matter how weak the claim was.⁹ That one-way fee shift is by design.

The statute applies “regardless of whether the person knew or should have known that the abortion would be performed” in violation of the law.³ Someone who helps fund a procedure without realizing it violates the heartbeat provision can still be sued.

Rules on Abortion Medication

Senate Bill 4 bans mailing, delivering, or sending abortion-inducing drugs by courier or delivery service. Before providing the medication, the prescribing physician must examine the patient in person, which effectively rules out telemedicine prescriptions for abortion.¹⁰ The restriction reaches manufacturers, suppliers, physicians, and anyone else involved in providing the drug.

Violating SB 4 is a state jail felony, punishable by 180 days to 2 years in a state jail facility and a fine of up to $10,000.¹⁰

How the Ban Is Enforced

Three enforcement paths run in parallel: criminal prosecution by local district attorneys, civil enforcement by the attorney general, and private lawsuits under SB 8. The Texas Medical Board can also open its own investigation based on complaints or referrals and can suspend or revoke a license.

Enforcement is not uniform across the state. Some district attorneys in urban counties have said publicly that they will not prioritize abortion cases. That is why the attorney general’s authority to seek the $100,000 civil penalty under §170A.005 matters: it operates statewide and does not depend on any local prosecutor’s willingness to charge.⁸

One boundary worth flagging: federal emergency care law does not currently override the Texas ban. The Fifth Circuit ruled that Texas’s law prevails over the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, and the Supreme Court declined to review that decision, so Texas hospitals are not required under EMTALA to provide abortion as stabilizing care even in acute obstetric emergencies.

Traveling Out of State

Texans keep the constitutional right to travel to another state for an abortion that is legal where it is performed. The U.S. Department of Justice has stated in formal court filings that this right is “firmly embedded in the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence and the Constitution.”¹¹ Justice Kavanaugh, concurring in Dobbs, wrote that whether a state may bar its residents from traveling for the procedure is “not especially difficult,” and the answer is no.

The DOJ has also taken the position that federal precedent prevents states from criminalizing help with interstate travel when the purpose is to exercise a constitutional right.¹¹ No Supreme Court ruling has directly resolved the intersection of state abortion bans and travel assistance, and federal positions can shift with administrations. The safer distinction is between conduct that occurs entirely inside Texas, where SB 8 liability may attach, and help limited to facilitating lawful care in another state.

Medical Records and Privacy

A final HHS rule, with full compliance required by February 16, 2026, strengthens HIPAA protections for reproductive health information. It bars healthcare providers, insurers, and their business associates from disclosing protected health information to investigate or impose liability on anyone for seeking, obtaining, or providing reproductive health care that was lawful where it was performed.¹²

When law enforcement requests reproductive health records, the provider must obtain a signed attestation confirming the request is not for a prohibited purpose before releasing anything. Disclosure is permitted only when the request falls outside the prohibition on investigating lawful reproductive care, is required by law, and meets the other HIPAA conditions.¹² A Texas provider can refuse a subpoena that seeks records to punish someone for care that was legal in the state where it was received. This matters most for Texans who travel elsewhere for an abortion and later interact with Texas-based providers.

1
State of Texas. Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 170A – Performance of Abortion
2
Texas State Law Library. What Does the Texas Heartbeat Act Say About Abortions
3
Texas Legislature Online. SB 8 – Enrolled Version
4
Texas State Law Library. Criminal Penalties – Abortion Laws
5
The Texas Tribune. Texas Legislature Clarifies When Doctors Can Perform Life-Saving Abortions
6
Office of the Texas Governor. Governor Abbott Signs Life Of The Mother Act In Austin
7
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 12.32 – First Degree Felony Punishment
8
State of Texas. Texas Health and Safety Code 170A.005 – Civil Penalty
9
State of Texas. Texas Health and Safety Code 171.209 – Civil Liability Undue Burden Defense Limitations
10
Texas Legislature. 87(2) SB 4 – Enrolled Version
11
U.S. Department of Justice. Justice Department Files Statement of Interest in Case on Right to Travel to Access Legal Abortions
12
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. HIPAA Privacy Rule Final Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy Fact Sheet