Texas Lawmakers Advance Legislation To Allow Private Citizens To Sue Abortion Pill Manufacturers, Producers

Lawmakers in Texas are moving closer to opening the door to a flurry of legislation targeting abortion pill manufacturers and distributors across the country. The Texas senate voted 17-9 on Tuesday to pass House Bill 7, which would allow private citizens to sue anyone who produces or distributes abortion medication to residents in Texas, even if the pills were manufactured in another state. Women who take abortion medication would not be excluded from lawsuits.The bill would award plaintiffs who are successful in their lawsuits $100,000 in damages. House Bill 7, which already passed the state house, requires one final vote in the senate, and then it will go to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk.One of the state senators who sponsored the bill, Bryan Hugues, said in a statement about the legislation, “The bill says if you are going to manufacture or ship these illegal, poisonous pills to Texas for the purpose of killing little unborn babies and hurting moms, you will be held accountable.”The ACLU of Texas criticized the bill, saying it “exports Texas’ extreme abortion ban far beyond state borders.”“It will fuel fear among manufacturers and providers nationwide, while encouraging neighbors to police one another’s reproductive lives,” the statement added.The legislation comes as state officials are taking a multipronged approach to stopping the shipment of abortion medication to the state. Last month, the Texas’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, sent cease-and-desist letters to several abortion pill providers.Mr. Paxton accused the providers of violating the Comstock Act of 1873, which prohibits the mailing of abortion-inducing medication but has not been enforced for decades. Conservative activists are hoping that the Supreme Court will rule that the Comstock Act prohibits the interstate shipment of abortion medication. Mr. Paxton and officials in Louisiana are also pursuing civil and criminal penalties against a New York-based doctor, Margaret Carpenter, for allegedly sending abortion medication to the states, which are seen as precursors to federal lawsuits with the goal of getting the Supreme Court to bring an end to the interstate shipment of abortion medication.

Texas Lawmakers Advance Legislation To Allow Private Citizens To Sue Abortion Pill Manufacturers, Producers

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