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Abortion Rights Blog

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12 Jun 2025
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Texas Paused, Not Backed Down, on Abortion BansRoe Reckonings

Roe Reckonings

Let’s talk about the Texas Legislature’s latest foray into the theatre of reproductive cruelty: Senate Bill 2880, the most sadistic anti-abortion bill of the session. It’s dead. Yes, relief, but not celebration.

Don’t get us wrong—watching SB 2880 crash and burn in the House felt like a long exhale. But if you’re looking for a feel-good moment, look elsewhere. Because the political machine that keeps grinding reproductive rights into dust hasn’t stopped—it just missed a gear.

This bill wasn’t your average run-of-the-mill, anti-choice stunt. SB 2880 would have handed out $100,000 bounties to anyone willing to sue their neighbour for mailing a pill. Yes, a pill. The ones that have been used safely and effectively for decades. This bill would have criminalised basic health care—and made vigilantes rich for it. Even worse, it was designed to be lawsuit-proof. No checks, no balances. Just straight-up legal anarchy.

It passed the Senate, no surprise there, and came within inches of reaching the House floor. Then—bam. Silence. And when Texas Right to Life starts foaming at the mouth and blaming their own Republican allies for “apathy,” you know something weird happened. The House blinked. Maybe it was fear, maybe it was politics, maybe someone finally read the thing. Doesn’t matter. It didn’t move. That’s the headline.

But if you’re thinking this means we’re “winning”? Slow down. This session still managed to make life harder for abortion seekers in Texas. SB 33, another disaster dressed up as legislation, will strip cities like Austin and San Antonio of the ability to use public funds for abortion-related travel and support. Because apparently, letting your community pitch in for a hotel or bus fare when you’re forced to flee the state for health care is too radical for Texas lawmakers.

Let’s be clear: what just happened wasn’t a win for reproductive rights. It was a reminder. A reminder that every inch we gain, they’re already planning to take back.

Take SB 31, the so-called “clarification” bill about medical exceptions. A bill that was pitched as a lifeline but reads like a smoke screen. On paper, it tweaks the language around when a doctor can legally intervene in a medical emergency. In reality? It still keeps doctors terrified, patients in limbo, and the legal minefield intact.

The people who wrote it didn’t talk to a single abortion provider. Not one. Senator Bryan Hughes—the guy who once authored Texas’ bounty-hunting abortion ban in 2021—literally said, “No abortionists were consulted.” His words. So naturally, the bill fails to offer any real protection for doctors, or patients, or, frankly, basic human decency.

And let’s talk about what SB 31 doesn’t do. It doesn’t add exceptions for rape. Or incest. Or fatal foetal diagnoses. The things other red states—yes, even those states—have managed to allow. And yet, we’re supposed to treat this like progress? We don’t think so.

What it does do is give anti-abortion politicians just enough cover to pretend they’ve fixed the mess they made. They haven’t. This is what advocates are calling an “exception deception” bill. A PR move. A performative gesture. And while the media might frame it as a “bipartisan step forward,” people on the ground see it for what it is: another half-measure that leaves Texans suffering.

You want to stop watching people die from preventable pregnancy complications? Then repeal the ban. Until then, the rest is noise.

So yeah—SB 2880 is dead. And SB 31 is headed to the Governor’s desk. We’re not celebrating. We’re watching. We’re bracing. Because the other side never stops. They’re already pushing for a special session. They want more. They always want more.

If they can’t ban the pills, they’ll go after the people who send them. If they can’t stop you from leaving Texas for care, they’ll try to make it impossible to afford. If they can’t jail the doctors, they’ll threaten the clinics out of existence.

This is the long game. And this is why reproductive rights advocates aren’t throwing a party.

We’re just catching our breath.

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