The Texas House passed a bill Thursday that would allow private citizens to sue out-of-state manufacturers and distributors who provide abortion medication to Texans in violation of state law for a cash "bounty" similar to the one offered to those who sue abortion providers who violate the same law.
The bill, which passed by a vote of 82-48 along party lines, could net those who file a lawsuit up to $100,000 in damages for each violation. The Texas state Senate, which has 19 Republicans and 11 Democrats, is expected to pass the bill when it comes to a vote.
Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Allen, who introduced the bill, said in a statement that it's aimed at stopping "those who are selling, distributing and aiding the trafficking" of abortion medication and would not affect the legal use of abortion medication.
"We have heard story after story after story of women who have been severely impacted, medically, emotionally, in every other way, by the damage that these pills can and have done to their bodies," Leach said. "And so yes, this bill is about protecting innocent, unborn life, but it is also about protecting women."
"HB 7 is the strongest proposed tool to stop this crisis," Ashley Leenerts, legislative director for Texas Right to Life, said in a statement to the Texas Tribune. "It provides a new avenue to undermine anti-state laws and empowers women who are tragically targets of the abortion industry to hold traffickers accountable."
Texas House Minority Leader Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, said in a statement: "This bill was written specifically to allow extremist organizations to enrich themselves while terrorizing innocent Texas women."
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas criticized the legislation, saying in a statement that the bill "will fuel fear among manufacturers and providers nationwide, while encouraging neighbors to police one another's reproductive lives, further isolating pregnant Texans, and punishing the people who care for them."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.