The 2025 Texas Legislative Session ended on June 2, with some notable wins for pro-life legislation.  Legislators filed bills ranging from constructing a Texas Pro-life Monument to addressing the trafficking of chemical abortion pills. However, there is one bill, Senate Bill 33, that is considered to be a long-fought victory for the pro-life movement in Texas. Since 2019, the Texas Legislature has fought to stop taxpayer dollars from going to abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. The initial law, Senate Bill 22, was successful in stopping taxpayer dollars from going to abortion providers in most regards. But, shrewd city politicians have found ways to work around the law by funding abortion related services like gift baskets and Uber rides. Both original authors of the legislation, Senator Donna Campbell and Representative Candy Noble, have worked to address bad city policies that fund abortion since the Austin City Council’s first attempt in 2019 to find a loophole in S.B. 22. Thankfully, both legislators found success this session in passing Senate Bill 33.  Texans grew wary of city governments using their taxpayer dollars for abortion, which is illegal in our state. The passage of this law will once and for all put an end to Austin and San Antonio city councils’ excessive abortion funds that only diminish life and the economy in their cities.

​

 

It is helpful to understand the history of why legislation was needed to address taxpayer dollars being used by local government to fund abortions. As you may recall from previous articles I have written, the need for Senate Bill 22 in 2019 was inspired by the sweetheart deal of $1 per year rent given to Planned Parenthood, located on Austin’s “eastside”.[1] After Senate Bill 22 passed, the Austin City Council had its first approval for a reproductive justice fund a few months after the legislature ended. The fund began with $150,000 in 2019 and increased to $400,000 by the end of last year.[2] Similarly, the city of San Antonio followed Austin’s lead by proposing a reproductive justice fund. The San Antonio City Council’s attempt was immediately challenged with a lawsuit led by Texas Right to Life and a few pro-life citizens.[3] The Texas Attorney General also sued the City of San Antonio for using city funds to encourage abortions.[4] Throughout the years, many residents of both cities wondered why the “abortion related services” funding continues to grow without any successful efforts to stop it. Despite many lawsuits in Austin, where even the Texas Heartbeat Law aiding and abetting provisions were brought into focus, the Legislature had a task to complete in making sure that Texas law was clear and direct.[5] No taxpayer dollars should be used to assist or facilitate an abortion in any way in the state of Texas.

 

​

The same state legislators who championed S.B. 22 were committed to seeing any “loopholes” or misinterpretations of the bills they drafted addressed. Both Campbell and Noble have filed bills to strengthen S.B. 22 in the legislative sessions following the 2019 session. In 2021, Senator Campbell filed Senate Bill 650, and Representative Noble partnered with her again to carry the bill in the Texas House chamber. This bill had great chances of being passed and signed into law due to 2021 being the biggest year for pro-life laws in the state of Texas. Not only was the Texas Heartbeat Law signed into law, but the Texas Legislature passed the Human Life Protection Act (which would reenact the state’s pre-Roe statutes) and the No Mail Order Abortion Law that was passed in a special session later that year. Nonetheless, S.B. 650 fell short of success when it passed successfully out of the Senate chamber with a vote of 19-12, but was never voted to be put on the House calendar for a vote by the House Calendars Committee.[6] It’s likely that this bill might have incidentally fallen behind other pro-life bills filed that year. A second attempt was made in the 2023 legislative session when Senator Donna Campbell filed Senate Bill 2378. That bill did not receive a public hearing in the Senate State Affairs Committee, failing to meet the first step for a bill to advance in the Texas Legislature.[7] An identical bill in the Texas House filed by former Representative Stephanie Klick faced a similar fate in the House chamber, also failing to be considered in a public hearing.[8] It would be easy to assume that the Texas Legislature lost interest in addressing taxpayer dollars going to abortion providers. However, the reason why this bill lacked momentum was because most bills addressing pro-life issues also had little movement in the legislature that year as well. This was because many legislators were concerned about bills being filed to weaken our state’s strong pro-life laws that were passed in the previous session. Thus, a break was needed so that legislators could protect our state’s strong existing pro-life laws and create momentum for supporting new pro-life bills in the following legislative session. The actions by city councils created the perfect thrust for legislators to re-file legislation to stop cities from financially supporting abortion.

 

​

As the Austin City Council continued to financially support abortion relentlessly over the past six years, I believe that San Antonio’s funding for abortion related services might have been the tipping point in getting a bill across the finish line this session. It is notable that Senator Donna Campbell is a resident of San Antonio. The issue now hit close to home for the bill author, who has championed the issue since 2019.  Senator Donna Campbell explained in her layout of the bill on March 27, that cities like Austin and San Antonio have exploited a loophole by providing for abortion related expenses, abortion doulas, childcare, lodging, and meals.[9] With Senator Campbell being from San Antonio, it was only fitting that she invited San Antonio City Councilman Marc Whyte to testify in favor of Senate Bill 33. Councilman White described SB 33 as a taxpayer protection bill.[10] He claimed that in the numerous committee meetings he has attended that no one has ever said that they want their tax dollars to be used to send women out of the state to obtain an abortion.[11] This proved true when a number of residents from San Antonio drove to Austin to testify in favor of S.B. 33 in the Texas House.

 

​

Senate Bill 33 found success in moving through the legislature, passing first out of the Texas Senate with a vote of 22-9[12] and out of the Texas House with a vote of 87-58.[13] The bill was sent to Governor Greg Abbott to sign on May 28, with a few days left to spare in the Texas Legislative Session. The success of S.B. 33 this session seems to prove the colloquialism “third time’s a charm”. However, if you consider the exponential increases of funding Austin has given for abortion related services, San Antonio’s efforts for a reproductive justice fund, and the fact that both cities were using the funds to traffic women across state lines for a dangerous, deadly procedure; then it became clear that Texas had to act urgently. One thing is clear, cities can no longer scheme to skirt our state laws meant to protect women and babies. In other words, you don’t mess with Texas law.

 

_______________________

[1] Unknown, Emotions Run High at City Hall as Council Approves $1 year Planned Parenthood Lease, Fox 7, November 1, 2018,   https://www.fox7austin.com/news/emotions-run-high-at-city-hall-as-council-approves-1-a-year-planned-parenthood-lease, accessed June 10, 2025.

[2] FY 2024-25, Council Amendment Tracking, Austin City Council, accessed June 10, 2024, https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=434259 .

[3] Unknown, Pro-life groups sue San Antonio over controversial ‘Reproductive Justice Fund, CBS Austin, October 17, 2023, https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/pro-life-group-sues-san-antonio-over-controversial-reproductive-justice-fund-texas-abortions-testing-women-health-birth-control , accessed June 10, 2025.

[4] Press Release, Attorney General Ken Paxton, Attorney General Ken Paxton Sues the City of San Antonio for Illegally Appropriating Taxpayer Funds to Pay for Out-of- State Abortion Travel (April 4, 2025). https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-sues-city-san-antonio-illegally-appropriating-taxpayer-funds-pay-out .

[5] Original Petition, Zimmerman v. City of Austin, No. D-1GN-19-005930, (Dist. Ct. 98th Tex. 2019),   https://texasrighttolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Zimmerman-v.-City-of-Austin-Original-Petition-FILE-STAMPED.pdf.

[6] Texas Senate Journal, 87th Legislature, p. 510, May 31, 2021, https://journals.senate.texas.gov/sjrnl/87r/pdf/87RSJ03-31-F.PDF#page=10 .

[7] Texas Legislature Online, https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=88R&Bill=SB2378, accessed June 10, 2025.

[8] Id.

[9] Texas Senate, Senate Committee on State Affairs (Part I), March 27, 2025 at 27:19-28:51, https://senate.texas.gov/videoplayer.php?vid=21483&lang=en.

[10] Id. at 29:16-31:37.

[11] Id.

[12] Texas Senate Journal, 89th Legislature, p. 1353, April 16, 2025, https://journals.senate.texas.gov/sjrnl/89r/pdf/89RSJ04-16-F.PDF#page=3.

[13] Texas House Journal, 89th Legislature, p. 5236, May 22, 2025, https://journals.house.texas.gov/hjrnl/89r/pdf/89RDAY70FINAL.PDF#page=6.

​

​