, which physicians say is dangerously unclear and has forced women with serious pregnancy complications to leave the state.The head of the Texas Medical Board also said that wider issues surrounding the law — such as the lack of exceptions in cases of rape or incest — were beyond the authority of the 16-member panel, twelve of whom are men. Only one member of the board is an obstetrician and gynecologist."We can only do so much," said Dr. Sherif Zaafran, the board’s president.
While anti-abortion advocates praised language leaving the question of whether or not to perform an abortion at a reliance on doctors’ "reasonable medical judgment," some doctors, attorneys and women who have left the state for abortions said more needed to be done to shield doctors from prosecution for performing abortions under the medical exceptions."You’ve got people who are scared to death," said Steve Bresnen, an attorney who petitioned the board for guidance.