Texas Senate Democrats On Passage Of Senate Bill 2880

Austin, TX—The Texas Senate Democratic Caucus released the following statement on passage of Senate Bill 2880:

Senate Bill 2880 is a shocking overreach of state power that weaponizes civil penalties to intimidate and punish those who support a Texas woman’s decision to seek reproductive care—including lawful care in other states. The real purpose of this bill is fear. Whether lawsuits succeed or not, the threat alone deters support, isolates pregnant women and attacks the very foundation of the judicial branch. The bill tells Texas women: you’re alone. It tells doctors, family members, clergy and out-of-state providers: help them and you’re next. It tells lawyers and judges: do your job at your peril.

Chillingly, the bill also provides new tools to abusive partners, allowing them to sue, weaponize private medical information and further control survivors.

The bill expands on the vigilante-style civil enforcement mechanism first seen in SB 8 (the “bounty hunter” law), which encourages private citizens to sue anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion. SB 2880 builds on that strategy with sweeping provisions aimed at medication abortion with an outrageous $100,000 penalty. It creates new civil liability for anyone who manufactures, mails, transports, delivers, prescribes or provides abortion-inducing drugs—even if that support happens entirely outside Texas.

In a bizarre turn, SB 2880 includes a provision to block judicial review, asserting that Texas courts lack jurisdiction to consider or invalidate any part of the bill. At the same time, it extends the $100,000 penalty to judges who dare to review the law and find it unconstitutional as well as attorneys who dare to represent clients in those proceedings.

It is also profoundly disturbing that SB 2880 purports to implicitly revive Texas’s pre-Roe abortion ban, treating it as enforceable despite court rulings that have enjoined it. By explicitly incorporating the 1925 law into the bill’s definition of “criminal abortion law,” SB 2880 intends to open the door to both civil and potentially criminal action under a long-superseded legal framework. This 1925 law does allow the prosecution of pregnant women and explicitly criminalizes “furnishing the means” of abortion—a vague clause that could be used to prosecute those who assist with abortion-related travel including husbands, daughters, sons and other family members.

The bill author has refused all requests to make this bill neutral on the subject of prior law, despite having willingly fixed it in SB 31. SB 2880 not only revives criminal exposure, it empowers the Attorney General to enforce it through civil litigation, dramatically expanding state authority to pursue and punish Texans for exercising a constitutionally protected right to travel.

In its current form, SB 2880 is a backdoor effort to fully reinstate the 1925 law. It is a vote to criminalize women, trap them within the borders of Texas and to threaten anyone who tries to help them—regardless of whether the abortion occurs legally in another state. This includes survivors of rape and incest and those facing lethal fetal diagnoses. It is harsher than any abortion law currently on the books and it represents a deliberate step backward into an era of cruelty, surveillance and state control over private medical decisions.

Texans deserve compassion and clarity, not intimidation. SB 2880 is unconstitutional, it harms women and families, and severely undermines the legal system on which we all rely.

Texas Senate Democrats On Passage Of Senate Bill 31

Austin, TX—The Texas Senate Democratic Caucus released the following statement on passage of Senate Bill 31, the Life of the Mother Act:

Today’s passage of Senate Bill 31 marks a critical step toward addressing Texas’ maternal health crisis. This bill provides long-overdue clarity for physicians and hospitals forced to navigate a vague and dangerous legal landscape since the state’s abortion ban took effect in 2022.

Pregnant women across Texas have been compelled to carry dangerous pregnancies to term, risking serious complications, long-term health impairment and even death. S.B. 31 aims to restore evidence-based medical decision-making by allowing doctors to act when they determine that continuing a pregnancy endangers a woman’s life or risks impairment to a major bodily function. Notably, codifying the Texas Supreme Court's recent decisions, the bill specifies language that the risk of death does not need to be imminent and clarifies that a doctor does not need to wait to treat a pregnant woman until she is physically suffering or harmed.

At our request, S.B. 31 also clarifies that it does not settle the question of whether the 1925 abortion law remains in effect, deferring that issue to the courts. It includes vital protections, reaffirming that women cannot be prosecuted for seeking abortion care and requires courts to follow long-standing judicial precedents dating back to 1880.

Doctors have asked for clarity. Patients have demanded protection. S.B. 31 delivers both. It puts life-saving decisions back in the hands of medical professionals—not politicians—and it removes the legal uncertainty that has threatened care across the state.

We recognize this bill does not go far enough. It does not address cases of rape, incest or lethal fetal diagnoses. It does not repeal the abortion ban. As Senate Democrats, we reaffirm our commitment to continuing the fight for full reproductive freedom in Texas. S.B. 31 is not the end—it’s the beginning of restoring dignity, clarity and life-saving care for Texas women and their families.

Texas Senate Democrats On Final Passage Of Senate Bill 2

AUSTIN, TX – The Texas Senate Democratic Caucus released the following statement on the final passage of Senate Bill 2:

The Texas Senate Democratic Caucus stands united in strong opposition to Senate Bill 2, a deeply flawed voucher scheme that diverts billions of taxpayer dollars from Texas public schools and channels them into private hands—with no guarantee of better outcomes, no public accountability and no protections for the children who need the most support. These funds are coupons for wealthy families already sending their children to private schools while doing virtually nothing for the vast majority of Texas students.

With a $24 billion budget surplus, Texas has a historic opportunity to put our children first by making the bold, long- overdue investments our public schools desperately need. Instead of seizing this moment to improve education for the 5.5 million students who rely on our neighborhood schools, however, some state leaders are prioritizing a costly voucher program that serves the few at the expense of the many.

When this bill was first considered in the Texas Senate and subsequently in the Texas House, Democrats offered numerous amendments to protect students with disabilities, uphold anti-discrimination standards for participating private schools, ensure fiscal accountability and basic transparency, prevent program cost overruns and limit eligibility to families who truly need assistance. These amendments were rejected summarily along partisan lines.

If this program truly were designed to support students with disabilities or those at risk, it would require participating private schools to meet the same standards as public schools and prohibit them from cherry-picking which students to accept. Instead, it opens the door to discrimination while using public funds to bolster private profits.

In rural Texas, where private schools are few and far between, vouchers offer no real options—only funding cuts to local schools that often are the heart of their communities and among their largest employers.

Furthermore, S.B. 2 makes future investments in public education—like reducing class sizes, raising teacher pay and improving student outcomes—far less feasible. School districts will continue to face difficult choices: cut essential programs, fire educators or burden homeowners with even higher property taxes. Essentially, S.B. 2 creates a two-tiered system in which public schools are left to do more with less while private entities profit from taxpayer money without public responsibility.

Finally, other states’ voucher programs provide cautionary tales. Costs skyrocket, fraud occurs and public education is slashed, inevitably leading to higher taxes. Notably, none of these programs has been shown to improve student outcomes. Vouchers are bankrupting Arizona, and conservative voters in Nebraska recently repealed vouchers.

Let’s be clear: S.B. 2 is not about “school choice.” It’s about public subsidization of private schools’ choice. It is a step backward for Texas, jeopardizing the very system that supports the overwhelming majority of our children and abandoning our constitutional responsibility to provide every child with a quality public education.

Senate Democrats remain steadfast in our fight for fully funded public schools, support and respect for educators and a future in which every child has a fair opportunity to succeed.

Senate Democrats Fight to Keep Public Dollars in Public Schools

AUSTIN, TX – The Texas Senate Democratic Caucus released the following statement on the passage of Senate Bill 2:

Today, Senate Democrats were united in their strong opposition to Senate Bill 2, which would create an “Education Savings Account” program. This latest voucher scheme siphons off billions of taxpayer dollars for private vendors without requiring the transparency, accountability or anti-discrimination standards our public schools must follow.

Multiple amendments by Senate Democrats to protect Texas children and hold these private entities to the same standards required of our public schools were summarily rejected, strictly on partisan lines. Rejected amendments included provisions to protect and prioritize children with disabilities, and requirements for private schools to institute the same anti-discrimination protections as public schools and to provide basic reporting and accountability data. Also rejected were amendments to implement safeguards against ballooning costs and limit eligibility by changing the definition of "low-income household" from a whopping 500 percent of FPL ($160,750 for a family of four) to better reflect the income of Texas’ working families (median household income in Texas was $75,780 in 2023) were also rejected.

With a budget surplus of $24 billion, we have another historic opportunity to make our children our top priority by making long-overdue investments in public education. Instead, state leaders are prioritizing a voucher program that will be nothing more than a coupon for the wealthy to keep sending their children to the private schools they’re already attending, and will do little to help the 5.5 million children who rely on our neighborhood schools.

S.B. 2 diverts billions of taxpayer dollars to private entities, making future investments in our public schools to reduce class sizes, increase teacher pay or improve student outcomes less feasible. Notably, these private entities—who stand to make millions of dollars—will be accountable only to their shareholders, not to the public. Furthermore, if this new entitlement program truly were intended to help children with disabilities and at-risk children, then it would hold private schools who accept ESA funds to at least the same minimum standards required of our public schools and would not allow them to pick and choose what students they accept.

Senate Democrats remain laser-focused on fully funding our public schools, supporting our teachers and fighting for the future of every Texas child. If this legislation becomes law, more than 98 percent of children who will remain in our neighborhood schools will be devastated by the financial impacts of this voucher scheme, with children with disabilities, at-risk children and rural communities the hardest hit. History will show Senate Bill 2 was not “school choice” for Texas families but rather public subsidization of private schools’ choice.