Spencer files ‘Reagan and Braxlynn’s Law’ targeting pregnancy fraud
The first bill filed by Northeast Texas' new state representative is named for the New Boston mother and baby killed in 2020 by a woman who faked a pregnancy.
AUSTIN — Rep.-elect Chris Spencer has filed a bill named for Reagan Simmons-Hancock and her daughter, Braxlynn, that would train doctors, nurses and police officers to recognize women who fake pregnancies and make it a crime to use fake pregnancy records to help commit a felony.
House Bill 944, “Reagan and Braxlynn’s Law,” was filed Monday, the first day lawmakers could file bills for the legislative session that begins Jan. 12. It is the first bill filed by Spencer, R-Hughes Springs, who won the open House District 1 seat on Nov. 3.
Monday was four years to the day after a Bowie County jury sentenced Taylor Parker to death for the killings.
The case behind the bill
Parker killed Simmons-Hancock, 21, at her New Boston home on Oct. 9, 2020. Simmons-Hancock was about 35 weeks pregnant. Parker cut the baby from her body and fled toward Oklahoma. A state trooper stopped her near De Kalb, and the baby, Braxlynn Sage Hancock, was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Prosecutors said Parker had faked a pregnancy for months, staging announcements, sonogram images and a gender reveal, and targeted a young mother she knew as her claimed due date approached.
Parker was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death Nov. 9, 2022. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the sentence in November 2025, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case in May. She has no execution date. A Netflix documentary about the case, “Maternal Instinct,” premiered in June.
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What the bill would do
HB 944 would:
- Train health care workers. The state health department would create a training program of at least two hours for health care practitioners who care for pregnant women. It would cover warning signs of pregnancy fraud, how to spot and report fake medical records, safety and de-escalation, and resources for potential victims and their families. Practitioners could count it toward up to two hours of continuing education.
- Require hospital procedures. Health care facilities would have to adopt procedures for staff to identify and report suspected pregnancy fraud, decide whether it poses a credible threat to public health or safety, and respond, including by calling police. Facilities would send a summary to the state agency that licenses them. Facilities that don’t comply could face discipline from that agency.
- Train police. The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement would add a two-hour pregnancy fraud course to the minimum training for new officers who begin training on or after Jan. 1, 2028.
- Create a crime. Knowingly showing someone a fake medical record, including an image, to make them believe you are pregnant, in order to help commit a felony, would be a Class B misdemeanor. That carries up to 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.
- Launch a public awareness campaign. The Health and Human Services Commission and the law enforcement commission would educate the public on spotting and reporting suspected pregnancy fraud.
The bill defines pregnancy fraud as claiming to be pregnant while knowing you are not.
If passed, the law would take effect Sept. 1, 2027.
What comes next
The bill will be referred to a House committee after the session begins. Spencer, a freshman Republican, takes office in a House that Democrats will control after last week’s election.
No Senate version had been filed as of Tuesday. Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, represents Bowie County in the Senate.
For a full timeline of the case, see The Taylor Parker Case, Explained.