Alec Rodriguez UPDATE (2:06 p.m. Sept. 18): Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 7 into law Wednesday. It is set to go into effect Dec. 4.
ORIGINAL STORY:
EDINBURG – House Bill 7 aims to crack down on the distribution of abortion pills into Texas by allowing private citizens to sue anyone outside of Texas who supplies the drugs.
Mark Kaswan, a political science professor at UTRGV, said while illegal in the state, people are having these pills shipped into Texas from states where abortions are still legal.
“And that’s one of the problems with this law that was just passed,” Kaswan said. “… It’s an attempt to enable people within the state of Texas to file a lawsuit in Texas against someone who is not in Texas, which violates the principles of federalism.”
Kaswan said suing someone from another state has to take place in that state.
“The state of Texas has no jurisdiction over what happens in other states,” Kaswan said.
He said he believes the promoters of House Bill 7 are frustrated because of the small decline in abortions in Texas since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Kaswan added the distribution of abortion pills from other states contributed to the small decline.
