To expand abortion access in Texas, a lawmaker gets creative

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/08/22/ [login to see] /texas-abortion-bans-softened-quietly
Texas's Republican Governor Greg Abbott addressed a rally earlier this year, celebrating the abortion bans that took effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

"As long as I am governor of the great state of Texas, Texas will always protect the unborn," he told a cheering crowd.

So it may be surprising that just a few weeks ago, Abbott signed a law giving doctors leeway to provide abortions in Texas when a patient's water breaks too early and for ectopic pregnancies. There was considerably less fanfare for that signing.

The new law, which goes into effect Sept. 1, is the work of a Houston Democratic lawmaker who built bipartisan support to get the bill all the way to the governor's desk. How did she do it? For starters, the new law has no mention of the word "abortion."