Relating to the protection of an unborn child’s rights and criminal liability and justification for prohibited conduct.

HB 144 amends Texas law to treat unborn children as legal persons under criminal and civil law from fertilization onward. It redefines "individual" in the Penal Code to include unborn children and adds provisions requiring criminal statutes to apply equally to offenses against unborn children, while excluding unintentional harm from lifesaving medical procedures for the mother or spontaneous miscarriages. The bill repeals existing legal exceptions that permitted "prenatal homicide" and laws that could be interpreted as enabling pressure on pregnant people to obtain abortions. It directly affects medical providers, legal proceedings involving pregnancy-related injuries, and individuals seeking civil remedies for harm to unborn children.