Texas Republicans’ New Cash-Grab Abortion Ban

HB 7 won't just impact Texans, but all of us

Want to help stop a horrific bill that would pad the pockets of the country’s biggest assholes? Then settle in. Texas Republicans are pushing yet another abortion ban (they’re up to at least four at this point). But this isn’t just a run-of-the-mill restriction: drafted by misogynist maniac Jonathan Mitchell, the bill would let anti-abortion organizations cash in by staging sting operations against abortion providers and pro-choice organizations nationwide.

In other words, this legislation is a danger to all of us. Abortion, Every Day readers have helped shift Texas policy before, so we’re asking for your help to push back again—no matter where you live.

First, a bit of background: For nearly a year, Texas Republicans have been trying to force a bill that would let private citizens sue anyone who mails abortion pills into the state for at least $100,000. Anyone who so much as touches the medication on its way to a patient could be targeted: manufacturers, distributors, hotline operators, even a loved one who picks up the pills from a PO Box.

And this bill won’t die! It’s been introduced and reintroduced again and again: first as SB 2880, then SB 6, and now SB 7. There’s also a House version, HB 7, all pushed under the vile name, the “Women and Children Protection Act.” (Especially ironic, considering Texas’ ban is responsible for a surge in maternal and infant mortality.)

As Abortion, Every Day has warned for months, the Senate version could revive a century-old abortion ban that opens the door to prosecute patients and criminalize abortion travel. And while the House version stripped some of that out to avoid backlash, Republicans slipped some new alarming language into the bill on Monday evening.

Under HB 7, those directly connected to an abortion—like the pregnant person or the “father” of a fetus—can sue the provider, manufacturer, or anyone else who sends the pills, for $100,000. But it doesn’t stop there. Any private citizen who isn’t directly involved can also sue for $100,000—but 90% of that bounty, $90,000, would be required to go to a “charitable organization.”

You can guess what kind of ‘charity’ Republicans have in mind.

That’s right: This last-minute addition would allow anti-abortion groups to use the legislation as a money-grab. In fact, under this bill, activists and organizations could carry out sting operations as often as they’d like: ordering pills from an out-of-state provider, suing for the 100k, and then ‘donating’ 90% to the charity they’re affiliated with.

Though employees and contractors are prohibited from giving money to their own organization, the legislation leaves a wide-open loophole for associates and volunteers. Reproductive rights advocates and legal experts in Texas tell AED that anti-abortion activists could even create a shell nonprofit for the sole purpose of conducting these sting operations and funneling the cash back to their real groups.

And get this—there doesn’t even have to be an abortion for someone to sue! Simply shipping the pills into Texas—or even intending to—would be enough to spark a lawsuit, whether or not anyone ever uses them.

Jonathan Mitchell, who drafted the legislation and regularly brings cases like these, would also get to cash in. The legislation makes attorneys’ fees mandatory, and court documents show that Mitchell cites his rate as $2,000 an hour. Put simply: an anti-abortion activist who doesn’t even live in Texas is writing legislation that gives him a big payday, all while doing his favorite thing ever—punishing women.

Mitchell has built his whole career on cases like this. The anti-abortion activist attorney has spent years challenging shield laws and trying to revive the Comstock Act. And he’s carved out a hideous niche for himself, allying with disgruntled men to help them sue over their partners’ alleged abortions. Just this summer, he filed a suit against a California provider on behalf of a man seeking to stop his partner from having another abortion. And earlier this month, he went after Aid Access and its founder Rebecca Gomperts.

He loves these cases. Imagine how many more of them he’ll bring if he’s legally guaranteed to rake in $2,000 an hour.

But this isn’t just a get-rich-quick scheme. Given the threat of costly suits, it’s possible some abortion pill manufacturers and distributors would stop sending the medication to Texas altogether—concerned that patients seeking the pills are really anti-abortion activists trying to make a quick $90,000. Which, of course, is the point: to create a culture of fear that leaves providers and organizations too afraid to help Texas women.

Like most anti-abortion legislation, HB 7 pretends to allow for emergency care. Republicans claim that distributors who send the pills to someone for miscarriage management or medical emergencies would be exempt. But that’s only if said distributor only ever sends pills for life-saving care—which essentially means that no one is exempt! And again, regardless of ‘exceptions’, distributors and providers will likely fear they’re being lured into a potentially-bankrupting trap.

Kaitlyn Kash, who was denied life-saving emergency abortion care in Texas, says that Republicans “are willing to bet on women’s lives.”

The reproductive rights activist says that after growing up in Texas and briefly moving away, she returned because she missed the friendly culture of her state—where people say “hello” to their neighbors and help each other. Now, an outsider—Mitchell—is trying to force through legislation that creates “a culture of fear and shame, and giving rewards for snitching.”

“I grew up taught that it was ‘snitches get stitches.’ Now, with this bill, I guess it’s ‘snitches get riches,’” she said.

Kash also pointed out that the bill has broad opposition, even among anti-abortion groups: Texans for Life, Texas Alliance for Life, and the Texas Conference of Catholic Bishops all oppose it. The only major group backing the bill is Texas Right to Life—and Kash questions why one organization seems to hold such outsized power over the legislative process.

“What are you so afraid of that Texas Right to Life gets to push this through, have their voice heard over all other Texans? What does Texas Right to Life have on you?”

AED has heard similar questions about Mitchell’s hold over the Texas legislature: Why is someone who lives in Washington state holding the pen in both chambers? And why are Republicans so eager to pass yet another abortion ban?

But what we hear most from folks in Texas is anger over defeatism. Kash says, “I’m tired of hearing this bill is just going to pass and there’s nothing we can do, because it’s terrifying.”

That’s where you all come in. This legislation will be on the House floor tomorrow. If you live in Texas—and we know AED has a lot of readers in the state!—call your representatives now. Tell them you don’t support HB 7, and ask why Republican leaders are wasting taxpayer time and money just to enrich an out-of-state activist.

Tell them that Texas doesn’t need another abortion ban. As Kash puts it: “Abortion is already illegal here. Move on. Fix our pipes, fix our energy grid. Do something else.”

If you’re outside of the state, share this piece on social media or with the folks you know in Texas. (You don’t even need to link to us, just tell them about the bill!)

Remind people that what happens in Texas today comes for the rest of us tomorrow, and that the state has long served as a laboratory for Republicans’ most extreme anti-abortion laws.

And remember—this community has made a difference before, and we can do it again. Earlier this year, AED raised hell over Texas Republicans’ attempts to revive that 1925 ban under a bill claiming to “clarify” medical exceptions. Our coverage started a domino effect of local and national reporting that forced legislators to strip that language from the bill.

Republicans are determined to ram their agenda through in the dark, but that becomes impossible when we fight back.