Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott issued an opinion Wednesday that any physicians who perform late-term abortions on minors without parental consent should face jail time and lose their license.
In a letter to Republican Rep. David Swinford, Abbott explained that anyone who violates the law is subject to criminal penalties of the Texas Occupations Code.
"A physician performs a prohibited practice," he wrote, quoting from the statute, "when the physician: performs an abortion on a woman who is pregnant with a viable unborn child during the third trimester of the pregnancy unless (a listed condition is present); or performs an abortion on an unemancipated minor without the written consent of the child's parent . . . or without a court order."
Swinford asked for clarification because the Texas Penal Code makes killing "an unborn child at every stage of gestation from fertilization until birth" a crime of capital murder, with exceptions when the child's death is caused by the mother or a physician performing an abortion.
Dr. Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, commended Abbott for his interpretation.
"We strongly agree with his opinion," he said. "The intent of the Texas Legislature is to prosecute physicians under the Occupations Code, which does have very serious penalties. That is what we lobbied for, and that is what the Legislature passed in 2005."
