Roughly 40 million people from Texas to the Carolinas are under winter weather alerts as a rare winter storm amid bone-chilling temperatures brings potentially historic snowfall to cities unused to harsh,

The snowstorm currently lashing the Gulf Coast is being described as a once in a generation weather event, the National Weather Service said Monday.

Patients and doctors have said the ban's only exception is so vague and the penalties are so steep that providers are reluctant to perform emergency abortions.

"I do think that we need to clarify any language so that doctors are not in fear of being penalized if they think the life of the mother is at risk," Patrick said Sunday on WFAA's "Inside Texas Politics" after he was asked whether he expected "any significant abortion legislation,