Texas Senator Bryan Hughes during a committee meeting at his Senate desk
during a Special Session recess on Tuesday, September 2, 2025, in Austin.
(AP Photo/Eric Gay) ERIC GAY / AP

 

We give thanks and praise that last evening, the Texas Senate passed the Woman and Child Protection Act.

The major pro-life Bill was passed by the Texas House of Representatives last Thursday before heading to the Texas Senate for final approval this week. Next, the Act will go to Texas Governor Greg Abbott to sign into law.

The  Woman and Child Protection Act did not pass in the 2025 Regular Legislative Session that ended on June 2 due to deliberate delays. Consequently, 129 pro-life leaders and organizations, including Council for Life Beneficiaries 40 Days for Life, Christian Homes and Family Services, Real Options, Students for Life of America and Texas Right to Life implored Governor Abbott to include the Woman and Child Protection Act for the Texas Legislature’s consideration in their Special Sessions which he did. (See Council for Life News HERE and HERE)

Sponsored by Texas Senator Bryan Hughes (SB 2880) and Representative Jeff Leach (HB 7), the Woman and Child Protection Act is an aggressive, comprehensive effort to stop the illegal mail-order trafficking of chemical abortion pills into our state.

Texas law prohibits providing “any abortion-inducing drug by courier, delivery or mail service.”  But our law is being circumvented. The pills are easily and cheaply ordered online via telehealth or other domestic and overseas websites and unlawfully delivered to our state. Further subversion of our Texas abortion ban is caused by “Shield Laws” in states where abortion is legal that protect abortion doctors and other providers from prosecution. (See Council for Life News HERE)

Thousands of deadly chemical abortion pills flow illegally into Texas, killing hundreds of babies every day and inflicting devastating harm and trauma upon countless women, including in our own Dallas / Fort Worth community.

The Woman and Child Protection Act will provide the legal means to hold doctors and other providers accountable for illegally providing the abortion drugs to our state. 

The chemical abortion drug Mifepristone blocks progesterone to the unborn baby, causing the baby to die. A second pill, Misoprostol, induces uterine contractions,
and the deceased baby is expelled from the woman’s uterus.

The lethal chemical abortion drug Mifepristone is readily available and causes over 60% – 80% of the abortions in the United States. (See Council for Life News HERE)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) originally recognized the dangers of chemical abortion drugs, requiring medical oversight and safeguards to protect women. But over time, common sense safety regulations, including in-person doctor visits and gestational age confirmation via ultrasound, were lifted. Women often receive the abortion pills through the mail without adequate instructions and experience medical complications such as hemorrhaging or sepsis, ending up in the Emergency Room.

A recent study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center shows abortion drugs are at least 22 times more dangerous than the FDA labeling indicates. (See Council for Life News HERE)

What to Know About the Women and Child Protection Act

The Woman and Child Protection Act:

  • Empowers Texans, including any woman harmed by illegal abortion, to bring legal action for at least $100,000 in damages against a pill trafficker, manufacturer or distributor, including out-of-state doctors. A suit can be brought even if no abortion has occurred.
  • Provides unrelated plaintiffs may only keep $10,000 in damages with the remaining $90,000 going to a charity of plaintiff’s choice with no direct or financial connection.
  • Allows families to file wrongful death lawsuits in the case of a woman harmed or killed by abortion-inducing drugs.
  • Authorizes the State of Texas to prosecute providers of abortion-inducing drugs.
  • Protects women’s privacy by barring the disclosure of personal or medical information in court filings.
  • Prohibits legal action against women who have taken abortion-inducing drugs.
  • Prohibits abusers from being able to bring legal action, including people accused of domestic violence or of impregnating a woman through sexual assault.
  • Provides the laws of another state, including an “abortion shield law” that protects abortion providers from liability, are not a legal defense.
  • Bars legal action against Texas hospitals, doctors who live and practice exclusively in the state, and manufacturers or distributors of abortion drugs for use in treating a medical emergency, an ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage or stillbirth.

 

(See New York Times article HERE, Dallas Morning News article HERE and Council for Life News HERE)

Please Pray

Council for Life is filled with gratitude for our Texas Legislators who fought valiantly for the passage of the Woman and Child Protection Act.

Please pray that all government leaders would boldly and courageously uphold the sacredness of life in their public roles.

Please pray for the Woman and Child Protection Act to withstand the legal challenges that are expected.

Please pray for an end to the violent destruction of innocent unborn babies and tremendous harm to women caused by chemical abortion.

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