ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Texas Senators have passed a bill empowering private citizens to sue individuals who mail abortion pills into the Republican-led state, advancing one of the toughest restrictions on abortion access since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
House Bill 7, which expands the state’s abortion crackdown to out-of-state providers, cleared the Texas House of Representatives last week and was approved by the Senate on Wednesday.
The legislation now awaits the signature of Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who is expected to sign it into law.
Republican Senator Bryan Hughes, a sponsor of the bill, defended the measure as necessary to safeguard women and unborn children.
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“We will not allow Big Pharma to pad its bottom line sending these poisonous pills into Texas,” Hughes said on the Senate floor.
“This bill is about protecting the little baby growing inside her mother’s womb. This bill is about protecting moms who have been victimized and lied to,” he later wrote on X following the passage.
The bill bans the manufacture, distribution, and provision of abortion drugs in Texas and extends civil liability to out-of-state providers, manufacturers, and facilitators who mail, prescribe, or otherwise provide them to residents.
While women who take abortion medication will not face liability including those who use the pills after miscarriages the law allows private individuals, even those not directly involved, to sue violators for at least $100,000 in damages.
Democrats strongly opposed the legislation, arguing that it weaponizes communities and undermines women’s rights, according to Vanguard.
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“HB 7 isn’t about protecting life it’s about control. It turns neighbors into informants and women into prisoners within their own state,” the Texas State Democratic Caucus said in a statement.
They further warned the six-figure damages provision would “incentivize harassment, fuel abuse and open the door to nationwide enforcement of Texas’ cruel laws.”
The passage of HB 7 follows a series of restrictive actions in Texas, where abortion is banned in almost all circumstances.
Earlier this year, a Texas court fined a New York doctor $100,000 for prescribing abortion pills remotely to a patient in the state.
The same doctor was later indicted for “criminal abortion” by Louisiana authorities.