The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Texas Bill HB 37 prohibits abortion-inducing drugs and creates civil and qui tam private rights of action
Last action · July 14, 2025: FiledSponsor: Jared Patterson
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What This Bill Proposed
Effective October 1, 2025, House Bill 37 prohibits the manufacture, distribution, mailing, prescribing, or providing of abortion-inducing drugs in Texas, enforcing these restrictions entirely through private civil and lawsuits rather than state-level criminal prosecution. The legislation establishes strict for wrongful death or personal injury resulting from such drugs, imposes a six-year statute of limitations, and authorizes statutory damages of at least $100,000 per violation.
Residents and entities involved in supplying, prescribing, or distributing abortion-inducing drugs face exposure to private civil lawsuits and enforcement actions with minimum statutory damages of $100,000 per violation, with strict limitations on standard legal defenses and class-action litigation.
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
abortion-inducing drug manufacturers and distributors
Prohibits manufacturing and distribution within the state and subjects entities to strict joint and several liability and market-share liability for personal injury or wrongful death.
pregnant women
Exempted from direct civil liability and qui tam prosecution when seeking or using abortion-inducing drugs.
qui tam relators and private claimants
Granted standing to bring private civil and qui tam actions against violators of the abortion-inducing drug prohibitions and recover statutory damages.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the minimum statutory damages amount awarded to a successful qui tam relator?
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News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · introduced in the House.
Procedural history
1 action- Jul 14, 2025HouseIntroducedFiled
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Private Civil Enforcement Model
The bill shifts enforcement of abortion-inducing drug bans entirely away from traditional state criminal prosecution into private civil and qui tam litigation.
Connected Entities
Sources
capitol.texas.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 90)
- Controversy95Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz75Current news / social attention level
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