Texas Lawmakers Took Pro-Life Steps But Ignored Deadliest Threat: Abortion Pills

Texas lawmakers passed bills that will help build a Pro-Life culture, but House leadership ignored the biggest threat to women and babies: abortion pills.

State officials began the 2025 legislative session in January with a major opportunity to stop the abortion industry. An estimated 30,000 Texan babies are killed each year by out-of-state procedures and abortion drugs, which also endanger mothers.

Texas Right to Life urged the Legislature to save these children with two Pro-Life Priority Bills:

2 The Stop Tax-Funded Abortion Travel Act (SB 33) to block cities from sending pregnant women to other states for abortions.

The Woman and Child Protection Act ranked as the top Pro-Life measure of 2025 and would have cracked down on abortion pills brought to Texas from other states and countries. Whether sold online, shipped in the mail, or trafficked over the border, the Woman and Child Protection Act would have saved lives by:

Giving women and families the right to sue for wrongful deaths or injuries caused by these drugs; and

Empowering the attorney general to prosecute abortion pill traffickers directly.

While the Texas Senate boldly championed this issue, Texas House leadership refused.

Groups, lawmakers, and activists rallied behind SB 2880 by Sen. Bryan Hughes (R–Mineola) and Rep. Jeff Leach (R–Allen). However, Chairman Ken King (R–Canadian) delayed SB 2880 so long in committee that it never reached the House floor before the deadline.

Without this legislation, an estimated 38,000 abortion pills will be brought to Texas between now and the next regular session in 2027—killing babies and endangering as many as 1 in 10 mothers who take them. The only way Texas lawmakers could save children from chemical abortions before 2027 is if Governor Abbott calls a special session for the Woman and Child Protection Act.

Despite the failure on abortion pills, lawmakers still passed several meaningful Pro-Life measures that help foster a Culture of Life in Texas:

✅ Stop Taxpayer-Funded Abortion Travel Act (SB 33 by Sen. Donna Campbell, M.D. (R–New Braunfels), sponsored by Rep. Candy Noble (R–Lucas)) Your taxpayer dollars will be protected from funding abortion travel costs (like what happened in Austin and San Antonio). SB 33 clarifies that it is illegal for governments to give tax dollars to abortion groups.

(SB 1233 by Sen. Kelly Hancock (R–North Richland Hills), sponsored by Rep. Valoree Swanson (R–Spring)) When a family finds out their preborn child may not live very long after birth, hospitals and doctors will now provide information on specialized care for their babies and community support for the parents so they don’t feel alone. The bill offers families hope through nonprofits like Abel Speaks, instead of pushing them toward abortion.

✅ The Life of the Mother Act (SB 31 by Sen. Bryan Hughes (R–Mineola), sponsored by Rep. Charlie Geren (R–Fort Worth)) SB 31 reaffirms that doctors are allowed to intervene if a pregnant woman faces a life-threatening physical condition under Texas’ Pro-Life laws. In most cases, the best option is to deliver the baby early—even if the child is too premature to survive—so both mother and baby receive care. Importantly, this sort of pre-viable delivery is often labeled “abortion” by medical professionals, leading to the misunderstanding that it would be banned. In rare and tragic situations where early delivery cannot save either life, the law permits doctors to act to save the mother. SB 31 also provides education for physicians and their legal advisors, helping them navigate these difficult cases and save as many lives as possible.

✅ Adoption Education in High Schools (SB 1207 by Sen. Phil King (R–Weatherford), sponsored by Rep. Terri Leo Wilson (R–Galveston)) This bill requires public high schools to teach about adoption in their health classes. Currently, for every 50 babies aborted, only 1 is adopted, largely due to fears and myths about adoption. SB 1207 helps young Texans see adoption as a compassionate and life-affirming option.

✅ Protecting Pregnancy Center Funding (SB 1388 by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R–Brenham), sponsored by Rep. James Frank (R–Wichita Falls)) SB 1388 ensures that state funds from the Thriving Texas Families program only go to Pro-Life organizations like maternity homes, pregnancy resource centers, and adoption agencies. This way, the funds are not diluted by groups that do not align with the program’s life-affirming purpose.

The final Texas budget includes $200 million for pregnancy centers, adoption agencies, and maternity homes, thanks to Rep. Caroline Harris Davila (R–Round Rock), Rep. Tom Oliverson, M.D., (R–Cypress), and other leading Pro-Life officials.

At first, lawmakers sought to cut the program to $140 million ($25 million less than 2023). Texas Right to Life does NOT receive any state funding, but we were the only statewide organization in the Capitol that testified for officials to keep the program’s full amount. While the Senate slightly walked back the needed $210 million, Pro-Life nonprofits will still receive a meaningful boost to serve pregnant women and families.

This session, we helped defeat several dangerous bills, including efforts that would have:

Let fathers avoid paying child support if they offered to pay for an abortion; and

We’re encouraged by the good steps taken to help moms and babies, but we cannot ignore the bloodshed by abortion pills in Texas and House leadership’s apathy.

Christians must stay vigilant, engaged, and vocal. Together, we will continue to defend Life at every stage—from fertilization to natural death—and hold elected officials accountable for protecting the most vulnerable.

It’s doubtful that absolutely ALL “abortion pills” will be outlawed, since the drugs in them are routinely used in the care of postpartum women who have had normal term deliveries or complicated deliveries.

All these drugs - cytoxan, for example - can be found in every obstetrician’s bag of tricks. They’re used to stop postpartum bleeding, for example, to help the patient expel the placenta, etc.

This from having transcribed a WHOLE BUNCH of obstetrical procedures. Almost every postpartum mom, having given birth in the hospital, receives some form or dosage of the same stuff that’s in abortion pills.

Almost any drug that you can name has a routine, life-enhancing property - or it can be used to poison, maim, or kill.

Of course, outlawing the abortion pill will make it more difficult for someone to obtain an easy combination of these drugs that will terminate a pregnancy. That may deter a lot of people.

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