Two restrictive bills targeting voting rights and abortion have run out of time for passage by the Texas Legislature this session, thanks to stalling by House Democrats over the weekend.
Senate Bill 2880, which would have allowed anyone to be sued for $100,000 for helping others access abortion information or pills, has run out of time to get on the schedule for a vote on the House floor.
Similarly, voter-suppression measure Senate Bill 16 ran out of time to be brought to the floor for a vote. That legislation, modeled after the nationally proposed SAVE act, would have required voters to show documents proving citizenship when registering to vote, which critics argue would disenfranchise legally eligible voters who don’t have a passport or birth certificate readily available.
It’s already illegal for noncitizens to vote, but SB 16 proponents argued the new proposal would verify citizenship. However, voting-rights advocates said the bill would create significant barriers for people otherwise entitled to cast ballots. One in 10 eligible voters nationally would find it difficult to prove citizenship, according to a national survey reported on by NPR. Further, married women who changed their name after marriage would also be disenfranchised, critics argue, because their birth certificate often doesn’t match their married name.
SB 2880 raised alarms among abortion advocates as the most comprehensive anti-abortion measure proposed in Texas to date, making it a felony punishable by up to life in prison to pay or reimburse the costs for an out-of-state abortion. It also would have enabled citizens to bring wrongful death suits to abortion pill providers supplying them to Texans from anywhere in the country. Search engines, social media sites and internet service providers could also have been caught up in the far-reaching legislation.
Progressive activists celebrated the wins over the weekend, saying Democratic lawmakers slowed down the process overall so the House was only able to pass five bills Saturday.
The 89th Texas Legislative Session ends June 2, leaving just a week left to fight over bills left in committee and the Senate chamber.
“These two bills, SB 2880 and SB 16, were our biggest priorities this week and we killed them both,” progressive Texas politics Instagram account @howdypolitics posted. “That’s no small thing and we should celebrate. Especially in a state like Texas where wins feel so rare.”
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This article appears in May 14-27, 2025.
