By Daniel Trotta
(Reuters) -The Texas legislature on Wednesday passed a bill enabling private citizens to sue anyone who mails or distributes abortion medication to or from Texas, fortifying the state’s existing ban on the medical procedure.
House Bill 7 now heads to the desk of Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who is expected to sign it after he had identified anti-abortion legislation as among his priorities for the current special session of the legislature.
The bill creates a civil enforcement mechanism that allows people to sue any individuals or entities that intentionally manufacture, distribute, mail or otherwise provide abortion medication, establishing that successful plaintiffs will be awarded a minimum of $100,000 in damages.
Women who take abortion pills, including for miscarriage, cannot be sued. Doctors and hospitals are also shielded in cases of medical emergencies such as removing an ectopic pregnancy or removing the fetus after a miscarriage. Postal workers, transportation companies, private delivery people and air carriers are also exempt.
Supporters of the bill said it would attempt to stop the trafficking of abortion medication into Texas, where a ban on nearly all abortions came into effect when the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to abortion in June 2022.
Texas is one of 14 states that have banned abortion since the so-called Dobbs decision rescinded a woman’s right to abortion that had been established under the 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade.
State Senator Carol Alvarado, a Democrat from Houston, spoke against the bill, raising concerns beyond further restrictions on abortion rights.
“This bill only works if we turn Texans against each other. Imagine living in fear of the man standing behind you at the pharmacy … Every word, every prescription, every private conversation could be twisted into evidence,” Alvarado said.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, CaliforniaEditing by Colleen Jenkins and Michael Perry)
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