Texas would let private citizens sue manufacturers and shippers of abortion pills

Manufacturers, distributors, and shippers of abortion-inducing drugs would face civil lawsuits from private Texans under a measure the state Senate passed during the first called special session. The bill (SB 6) creates new civil and qui tam causes of action against anyone who makes, sells, mails, or delivers abortion medication into Texas, expands the state attorney general''s authority to sue under parens patriae standing, and routes appeals to the conservative Fifteenth Court of Appeals.

Sen. Hughes, the Senate sponsor, designed the legislation to extend the enforcement model from the 2021 heartbeat law to the medication-abortion supply chain, which has become the primary means by which Texans obtain abortion care since the state''s near-total ban took effect. The bill carves out exemptions from the Texas Citizens Participation Act and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act so defendants cannot use those statutes to dismiss suits.

The Senate passed SB 6 on August 11.