SB1233

SB1233 requires information about perinatal palliative care when a provider diagnoses a pregnant woman’s unborn child with a life-threatening or life-limiting illness or medical condition. At diagnosis, the provider must give written state-prepared information, a provider/program list and a receipt-certification form, obtain the woman’s signed form, and put it in her medical record. The form certifies receipt of information—not agreement to a particular treatment. A provider who verifies that the record already contains the signed form for that pregnancy need not repeat the information/form process. Signed June 20, 2025, the Perinatal Palliative Care Act took effect September 1, 2025. Final law, sections 1 and 3–4; Official history.

What care means here: The act describes comprehensive medical, social and mental-health support for the woman, unborn child or infant, and family, including counseling, treatment information and a supportive environment. It expressly allows palliative care alongside treatment intended to cure or reduce the condition’s effects. Its defined perinatal period runs from conception through the infant’s first birthday; the care definition begins with diagnosis. It excludes acts or omissions intended to cause or hasten an unborn child’s death. This definition is not an instruction that families must abandon treatment. Final law, section 161.752.

State duties: HHSC, working with the Department of State Health Services and the Palliative Care Interdisciplinary Advisory Council, must develop and post information explaining services and medical-assistance benefits that may be available. HHSC must maintain a geographically indexed provider/program list with names, addresses and telephone numbers and identify free services. Out-of-state providers serving Texas residents may be included. The act does not guarantee that services are free, locally available, or covered for every family. Final law, sections 161.753–.754.

The list excludes abortion providers and their defined affiliates unless they perform abortions only during a medical emergency under the referenced definition. This is a restriction on the state list, not a complete statement of abortion law. The medical-emergency cross-reference was separately revised in 2025 and points to Health and Safety Code 170A.002(b)(2); SB1233 itself does not rewrite that exception. Final law, section 161.753(b); Referenced definitions as of the effective date; Referenced medical-condition exception; Affiliate definition.

Enforcement: A woman who does not receive the required information may complain to HHSC. A provider violating the diagnosis-time duties is subject to the relevant state licensing agency’s discipline: a written warning for the first violation and a $1,000 administrative penalty for each subsequent violation. The act places these penalties on providers, not patients, and does not create a patient fine for declining care. “Health care provider” includes authorized individuals and facilities, such as physicians, hospitals and birthing centers—not physicians alone. Final law, section 161.757; Incorporated provider definition.