This blog is part of our 89th Legislative Session Recap series. Click here to learn more about how the bills passed this session will affect you & your community.
Official Bill Caption
Relating to prohibitions on the manufacture and provision of abortion-inducing drugs, including the jurisdiction of and effect of certain judgments by courts within and outside this state with respect to the manufacture and provision of those drugs, and to protections from certain counteractions under the laws of other states and jurisdictions; authorizing qui tam actions.
What it Does
House Bill 7, passed during the second special session, prohibits the manufacture, distribution, mailing, transportation, delivery, prescription, or provision of abortion medications outside of approved uses. Those approved uses are ectopic pregnancy, life-threatening medical emergency, or treatment of a miscarriage in which the embryo or fetus is already dead. Instead of the state enforcing the law, HB 7 empowers private citizens to sue anyone they think is breaking the law or intends to break the law through a whistleblower lawsuit. Successful litigants would receive $100,000 plus court costs and attorneys’ fees. Litigants who lose will not be required to pay the court costs and attorneys’ fees for the defendant.
There are some exceptions to who can sue (government employees, a person who committed a sexual assault that caused the pregnancy, and others) and who can be sued (the pregnant person seeking to end their pregnancy, delivery and ride share drivers, and others). People and entities outside of Texas can be sued. The law takes effect December 4, 2025.
Why it Matters
Texas House Bill 7 aims to ban mail delivery of abortion medication to people in Texas. Allowing private citizens to sue anyone in the United States involved in providing these medications is an effort to spread Texas’ extreme, dangerous abortion laws beyond state lines. By creating a lucrative “bounty” for suing manufacturers, pharmacies, health care providers, and even family members, lawmakers are incentivizing people to file lawsuits without consequence. They hope the threat of litigation and financial ruin will scare anyone, anywhere in the United States, out of even attempting to help Texans access essential healthcare.
Abortion medication is safe and effective, and for many Texans already facing barriers to care, mail delivery is the only option. Texans deserve the freedom to make personal healthcare decisions with their doctors, faith leaders, and families; politicians have no place interfering in the most private aspects of our lives.
What’s Next
A constitutional challenge against a similar abortion ban whistleblower provision has been moving through the courts since 2021. Regardless of the outcome, Texas Freedom Network will continue to fight any efforts to criminalize healthcare, isolate and stigmatize patients, and undermine fundamental freedoms. Through grassroots organizing, advocacy, and public education, TFN remains steadfast in defending reproductive rights and ensuring that all Texans can access the healthcare they need with dignity.
In 2026, TFN and our youth organizing arm, Texas Rising Action, will endorse candidates who fight for every Texan’s right to make decisions about their own body and future — free from government interference.
