Pregnant Texans with severe complications will likely continue seeking abortions outside the state after the Texas Supreme Court declined to clarify when a medical emergency justifies an abortion.

Why it matters: While the Texas abortion ban includes a few exceptions, the Friday ruling against 22 women who suffered complications during pregnancy did not provide the clarity patients and doctors sought.

• The ruling places the onus largely on doctors to make decisions and fails to protect women's health as the exceptions intended, Emily Berman, a professor at the University of Houston's Law Center, tells Axios.

The big picture: Under Texas' abortion ban, which took effect in 2022, a licensed physician can perform an abortion only if the pregnant person's life is at risk or if the pregnancy "poses a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function."

• The provider must also attempt to save the fetus.

Catch up quick: The lawsuit filed in March 2023 didn't seek to overturn Texas' ban but to clarify when medical exceptions are allowed under the law.

• Critics of Texas' ban have said the ambiguity over when exceptions are allowed has contributed to confusion among doctors — who can be charged with a first-degree felony if they violate the law.

State of play: A Democratic state district judge in Austin ruled last summer that the state could not prosecute doctors who terminated a complicated pregnancy in their "good faith judgment." The order was almost immediately blocked through an appeal by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

• The state could still amend the law to better indicate to doctors when an abortion is going to be permissible, as it did with ectopic pregnancies, Berman says.

What we're watching

The Dallas Stars failed to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the second year in a row.

Why it matters: It felt like this was the Stars' year after they toppled the two most recent Stanley Cup champs to get to the Western Conference Finals.

The latest: The Stars went into the weekend tied in the series 2-2 against the Edmonton Oilers.

• But Dallas looked lifeless in Game 5 on Friday, losing 3-1. And they lost Game 6 last night 2-1.

State of sadness: The Stars also made it to the Western Conference Finals last year but lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Vegas Golden Knights.

• Dallas last went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2020. They lost in six games to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Context: The Stars were the best NHL team on the road this season but couldn't pull through last night in Edmonton — again.

• They trailed most of the game 2-0 before scoring one goal in the third period. They looked like they could tie in the final minutes but time ran out.

The bottom line: Losing isn't fun.

• But we're still proud of our Stars.

Thousands gathered during the weekend at Fair Park to celebrate the start of Pride month.

The latest: Actor and singer Billy Porter served as the first honorary grand marshal of the Dallas Pride Parade.

• Porter will also make Pride appearances in D.C. and Nashville.

Flashback: Dallas' first Pride parade took place downtown in 1972 but didn't happen again until June 1980.

• In 1983, the event was renamed the Texas Freedom Parade and moved to September.
• The event stayed in September until it moved from Oak Lawn to Fair Park in June 2019.

Check out more photos from Pride weekend on the Axios Texas Instagram.

💡 Thousands of North Texans were still without power yesterday, as Oncor workers tried to repair power lines damaged in last week's storms. (WFAA)

🥊 The Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight scheduled for July 20 at AT&T Stadium was postponed after Tyson had a health scare over the weekend. (FOX4)

🏆 Dallas Baptist University has become "the most unlikely perennial contender" in the NCAA baseball tournament. (New York Times)

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