Senator Eckhardt Condemns Passage of Abortion Bounty Hunter Law: “Zealously Cruel”

For Immediate Release: Contact:
September 4, 2025 Jeffrey Clemmons
214-244-6058 | Jeffrey.Clemmons@Senate.Texas.gov
Senator Eckhardt Condemns Passage of Abortion Bounty Hunter Law:
“Zealously Cruel”
AUSTIN – Last night, the Texas Senate advanced a new unconstitutional abortion bounty hunter
law, House Bill 7. The new law sets a $100,000 reward for pursuing a lawsuit against anyone
who manufactures, distributes, mails, or provides abortion medications to Texas women.
Called “the Women and Children Protection Act,” the new law shields pregnant women from
prosecution but leaves vulnerable anyone in the country for assisting them, rupturing the already
fraught landscape for Texas women seeking to escape Texas’ cruelty to states with full
healthcare access. It seeks to constrict access to medications such as mifepristone and
misoprostol, which have been used safely for decades by obstetricians and gynecologists to treat
conditions ranging from ulcers to miscarriages, which can be life-threatening.
Senator Eckhardt made the following statement about HB 7:
“HB 7 doesn’t protect women. Far from it. It isolates them from their families and
communities, leaving them open to yet another attack on their basic ability to care
for those they love. With dramatic cuts to federal funding for healthcare looming,
this law threatens to worsen Texas’ already dire maternal mortality crisis with no
concern for the painful consequences or plan to provide real care to Texans.
“Despite yet another devastating setback, I remain committed to fighting for a
Texas where choices about our health aren’t made based on fear, control, and
coercion but on people’s dignity and autonomy to choose for themselves. The
work to repeal this and all the other unconstitutional anti-woman, anti-freedom laws
begins in the courts but will be decided in the ballot box. We will make sure Texans
remember this betrayal.”
Sarah Eckhardt is the third-term Democratic State Senator representing District 14, comprising Austin and
surrounding areas. She serves on the Administration, Border Security, Nominations, and Veterans Affairs
committees in the 89th Legislative Session, and has previously served on the Water, Agriculture, & Rural
Affairs and Local Government committees. A proud UT Law and Public Affairs alum, Senator Eckhardt was
the first woman to serve as Travis County Judge from 2014-2020.