Nice! Texas to Let Texans Sue Abortion Pill Distributors 

Previous legislation also hasn’t stopped providers in places like California or New York—who are protected by their own states’ shield laws—from mailing in abortion pills. But under HB 7, pregnant people, the person who impregnates them, and close relatives can collect the entire $100,000 for turning in the accused. Women who take the abortion pill cannot sue or collect the money for any reason. If someone not related to the child files a suit, they can collect $10,000, with the remaining $90,000 being donated to charity—though it’s unclear which charity or how that would be determined. Doctors and hospitals in the state can’t be sued. Land of the free, am I right?

“The goal of this bill is to scare pregnant Texans out of seeking care and to scare providers away from helping them,” Nimra Chowdhry, senior state legislative counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, told Jezebel in a statement. “Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, abortion pills have become a critical lifeline for millions of women. Texas lawmakers know this and are hellbent on stomping that lifeline out.”

The bill is a stronger version of SB 2880, which proposed a similar sue-and-desist measure, and barely failed to advance in May. The legislation would stack on top of other affronts to abortion access, and ride on the coattails of HB 44 and SB 31 (ironically titled “Life of the Mother Act”). Adding a cherry on top of the shitstorm are court dogs like Jonathan Mitchell and AG Ken Paxton, who are using lawsuits to attack states with shield laws by targeting out-of-state providers that mail abortion pills into Texas.

Worse still, anti-abortion activists hope HB 7 will act as a first-of-its-kind policy, and are inviting the other 11 states with total abortion bans to follow suit. “Today, our law became a blueprint for the rest of the country,” John Seago, president of Texas Right to Life, one of the state’s most powerful anti-abortion organizations, boasted after it passed in a 17-8 vote. But laws like HB 7 do more than attack reproductive justice; they jeopardize health outcomes. “By further chipping away at abortion access, the legislature has removed yet another layer of privacy for Texans and pushed needed, evidenced-based reproductive health care even further out of reach,” a spokesperson at ACOG (American College of OB-GYNs) told Jezebel in a statement. “By applying this statute to manufacturers of medication abortion as well as people who dispense the medication and assist others in obtaining it, the legislature also pits people against one another for the simple provision of health care.”

“This is another step towards anti-abortion politicians’ ultimate goal: ending access to all abortions for everyone,” Chowdhry added. As such, Texans are bracing themselves for impact. In an open letter to Abbott, a number of women and families in the state urged the governor to think before he signs. “HB 7 delivers fear…making us suspicious of strangers, neighbors, and even our own family.” They ask: “Is this the Texas you want”? 

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