TEXAS, USA — The chair of the Texas Medical Board said Thursday it is not the group's role to give doctors legal clarity on the state's strict new abortion law.
This comes after a call from the state Supreme Court for it to establish guidelines contained within the controversial ruling in the Kate Cox case.
Dr. Sherif Zaafran, a Houston anesthesiologist, said the board cannot give clarity on the issue because that is beyond the scope of what it is permitted to do under the law.
In an interview with WFAA, Zaafran declined to say definitively whether the medical board would eventually give further guidance on medical exceptions to the state's abortion law, citing ongoing litigation.
"I'm not sure how helpful it would be one way or the other," he said. "In the past, when we issue guidance, not following that guidance didn't necessarily mean that you could be prosecuted in court still."
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office issued an advisory last year warning doctors who perform abortions in the state could face felony charges, unless the pregnancy puts a woman's life at risk or poses a serious risk of impairing a major bodily function.
In early December, Cox, a Dallas native, asked a judge to allow her to terminate her pregnancy because the fetus wouldn't survive. The Texas Supreme Court ruled against her Dec. 11, but asked the medical board to provide additional guidance.
"The board could assess various hypothetical circumstances, provide best practices, identify red lines, and the like," the justices wrote. "While the judiciary cannot compel executive branch entities to do their part, it is obvious that the legal process works more smoothly when they do."
Zaafran said the board is constrained by the letter of the law, which gives individual doctors the leeway to determine what constitutes a life-threatening diagnosis, but doesn't provide for the medical board to weigh in beyond its existing role adjudicating complaints against doctors.
"I understand there is a desire for the medical board to give more clarity," he said. "That is not our role. We can not give more clarity because that is beyond the scope of what we as an executive agency can do."
Zaafran said he believes the legislature should handle hypothetical scenarios for doctors and that the medical board could further advise physicians if future court rulings alter the interpretation of the law.
"It's not passing the buck, it's clarifying what our role is and to what extent we can enforce the law as it is written," Zaafran said.
Cox's attorneys were not available for comment this week. The mother of two received an abortion out of state in mid-December.