Texas Republicans have filed a slew of anti-choice measures ahead of the upcoming legislative session, and on Thursday GOP lawmakers filed a pair of bills that would criminalize a common method of second trimester abortion care and miscarriage management.

SB 415, sponsored by state Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), and HB 844, sponsored by state Rep. Stephanie Klick (R-Fort Worth), would prohibit a so-called dismemberment abortion unless the procedure is, in the bills’ words, “necessary in a medical emergency.”

The bill targets the dilation and evacuation (D and E) procedure commonly used for abortion care after 13 weeks of pregnancy, according to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

D and E bans are the latest chapter in a decades-old strategy by the anti-choice movement to target specific abortion procedures. Medical professionals have criticized these bans for substituting politicians’ agendas for the judgment and expertise of doctors.

Heather Busby, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, told Rewire that Texas Republicans are jeopardizing women’s health and safety for the sake of a political agenda. “This bill is another dangerous intrusion into the doctor-patient relationship and denies pregnant people their right to abortion care,” Busby said.

A doctor who violates the ban could be charged with a state jail felony and face up to two years of incarceration and a $10,000 fine.

“This bill is another weary attempt from anti-abortion extremists to ban abortion and seeks to turn doctors into criminals for treating their patients in the safest and most appropriate way for the individual patient,” Busby said.

State Sen. Perry said in a press release that prohibiting the procedure is “long overdue,” citing the myth that fetuses are capable of feeling pain. 

The notion of so-called fetal pain is often used to justify bans on abortion care later in pregnancy. It has been repeatedly discredited by medical professionals.

Similar bills have been introduced in several states. They are copies of legislation drafted by the National Right to Life Committee, an anti-choice legislation mill. 

“The Dismemberment Abortion Ban is the only Pro-Life measure filed that will actually stop abortion and protect pregnant women and their children,” Texas Right to Life Director Elizabeth Graham said in a statement.

West Virginia’s GOP-majority legislature in March voted to override the governor’s veto of a similar bill. The governors of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama signed D and E bans last year. In Oklahoma and Kansas, similar bills were blocked by state courts.

Texas legislators return to the state capitol January 10.