AUSTIN, Texas (LifeSiteNews) — Texas has enacted two major laws this week that boldly defend life and family.
The first is the “Bathroom Bill,” which safeguards women by preventing gender-confused men from entering their private spaces. The second protects unborn children by stopping Texas residents from seeking abortion medication from out-of-state providers.
Senate Bill 8 prohibits transgender individuals from using the bathroom that matches their self-proclaimed “gender identity.” The bill also ensures that prisoners in Texas are housed with members of the same sex, which extends to family violence shelters. The law imposes steep fines on public buildings that violate it, with some penalties reaching as high as $125,000.
At the bill’s signing in September, Governor Greg Abbott labeled the bill “common sense.” Opposition groups, including the ACLU of Texas, denounced the bill as unconstitutional.
“It is unconscionable and unconstitutional to pass this bathroom ban,” said spokesperson Ash Hall. “This bill is bad for trans and intersex people, bad for cisgender people, bad for business, bad for public health and safety, and bad for Texas. Transgender people have always been here and always will be.”
House Bill 7, dubbed the “Woman and Child Protection Act,” outlaws the manufacturing or distribution of abortion drugs in Texas. The bill also targets organizations that help women obtain abortion pills through the mail, making them liable for private civil lawsuits with fines reaching up to $100,000 per violation. Texas Right to Life celebrated the end of abortion pill trafficking, labeling the practice as extremely dangerous to women.
“Texas is now the strongest state in America to crack down on mail-order abortion pills,” said Texas Right to Life in a statement on Thursday.
“Until now, activists trafficked at least 19,000 orders of abortion drugs into Texas per year. These pills starve preborn children to death and expel the baby’s body from the womb. At the same time, one in ten women who take them end up in the emergency room … Texas Right to Life looks to copy our success across the nation to rescue babies, help mothers, and end the abortion industry’s criminal network.”
