Texas Penal Code 48.03 – Prohibition On Purchase and Sale of Human Fetal Tissue
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(a) In this section, “human fetal tissue” has the meaning assigned by § 173.001, Health and Safety Code.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly offers to buy, offers to sell, acquires, receives, sells, or otherwise transfers any human fetal tissue for economic benefit.
Terms Used In Texas Penal Code 48.03
- Actor: means a person whose criminal responsibility is in issue in a criminal action. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
- Another: means a person other than the actor. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
- Benefit: means anything reasonably regarded as economic gain or advantage, including benefit to any other person in whose welfare the beneficiary is interested. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
- Consent: means assent in fact, whether express or apparent. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Felony: means an offense so designated by law or punishable by death or confinement in a penitentiary. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Law: means the constitution or a statute of this state or of the United States, a written opinion of a court of record, a municipal ordinance, an order of a county commissioners court, or a rule authorized by and lawfully adopted under a statute. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
- Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
- Person: means an individual or a corporation, association, limited liability company, or other entity or organization governed by the Business Organizations Code. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
- Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
(c) An offense under this section is a state jail felony.
(d) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that the actor:
(1) is an employee of or under contract with an accredited public or private institution of higher education; and
(2) acquires, receives, or transfers human fetal tissue solely for the purpose of fulfilling a donation authorized by § 173.005, Health and Safety Code.
(e) This section does not apply to:
(1) human fetal tissue acquired, received, or transferred solely for diagnostic or pathological testing;
(2) human fetal tissue acquired, received, or transferred solely for the purposes of a criminal investigation;
(3) human fetal tissue acquired, received, or transferred solely for the purpose of disposing of the tissue in accordance with state law or rules applicable to the disposition of human fetal tissue remains;
(4) human fetal tissue or human tissue acquired during pregnancy or at delivery of a child, provided the tissue is acquired by an accredited public or private institution of higher education for use in research approved by an institutional review board or another appropriate board, committee, or body charged with oversight applicable to the research; or
(5) cell lines derived from human fetal tissue or human tissue existing on September 1, 2017, that are used by an accredited public or private institution of higher education in research approved by an institutional review board or another appropriate board, committee, or body charged with oversight applicable to the research.
(f) With the consent of the appropriate local county or district attorney, the attorney general has concurrent jurisdiction with that consenting local prosecutor to prosecute an offense under this section.