Qhe Texas Medical Board, responding to pressure from the state Supreme Court and widespread uncertainty among physicians, proposed draft guidance Friday in an attempt to clarify what constitutes emergency grounds for a legal abortion.

A summary of the proposed rules were read out by board president Sherif Zaafran, who summarized the proposed rules at a regularly scheduled meeting. He said they were not intended to “regulate or prohibit abortion” but to help define legal exemptions where abortion is permitted to save the life or major bodily function of the mother.

“The law leaves it to physicians, not judges, both the discretion and the responsibility to exercise their reasonable medical judgment,” he said. The proposed language is now subject to at least 30 days review and public comment before it will be voted on by the board.

The board’s language largely drew from existing state legislation, and defined an emergency as “a life threatening condition aggravated by, caused by or arising from a pregnancy that, as certified by a physician, places the woman in danger of death or a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function unless an abortion is performed.”

In cases where physicians deem an