Written in response to a ProPublica investigation last year, Senate Bill 31, called The Life of the Mother Act, represents a remarkable turn among the Republican lawmakers who were the original supporters of the state’s abortion ban. For the first time in four years, they acknowledged that women were being denied care because of confusion about the law and took action to clarify its terms.

It remains to be seen how the new bill, if enacted, would be interpreted by doctors and hospitals and whether risk-averse institutions would still delay care for pregnancy complications, which ProPublica’s reporting shows has happened under the ban.

The new bill states that a life-threatening medical emergency doesn’t need to be “imminent” and says doctors can terminate ectopic pregnancies. It also clarifies that medical providers can discuss abortion with patients without violating the law. 

The bill stops short of removing what doctors say are the biggest impediments to care, including its major criminal penalties, and doesn’t expand abortion access to cases of fetal anomalies, rape or incest. Sen. Carol Alvarado, the Democratic lawmaker who co-authored the bill, said that its limits were a “real hard pill to swallow” but that it could still make a difference. “I believe this bill will save lives,” she said.

The bill now goes to the Texas House of Representatives. Both the House and Senate would need to agree on a final version before it could go to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk.