type: timeline_event
Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 33 into law on August 20, 2025, banning cities and counties from using public funds or entering contracts to provide "logistical support" for abortions, including travel assistance, lodging, meals, childcare, or counseling when intended to help residents obtain abortion care out of state. The law targets voter-approved programs in Austin and San Antonio designed to help Texans access legal abortion care in other states.
SB 33 creates Government Code Section 2273.0031, prohibiting any government entity in Texas from spending money or contracting for broadly defined "logistical support" for abortion. The law allows any Texas resident to file civil suits against cities they believe violated the ban, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, reimbursement of misused funds, and attorneys' fees. The bill waives sovereign immunity for governmental entities, explicitly allowing them to be sued.
Following the law's enactment, both Austin and San Antonio shut down their abortion travel assistance programs. Jane's Due Process stated it was "disappointed that the City of Austin has ended its abortion practical support contract in compliance with SB 33. This law was designed as a direct attack on programs in Austin and San Antonio that were created to help Texans travel to their legal abortion care."
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had already filed lawsuits and obtained preliminary injunctions against San Antonio's program before SB 33 took effect, demonstrating coordinated state-level efforts to eliminate abortion access support at every level of government.
The law represents an unprecedented state intrusion into local governance, overriding voter-approved municipal programs and preventing communities from using their own funds to help residents access constitutionally protected services in other states. SB 33 exemplifies how abortion bans extend beyond prohibiting the procedure itself to criminalizing any assistance—even travel logistics—that might enable residents to access legal care elsewhere.
The ban strips Texas residents in abortion-banned areas of critical support networks, forcing those who can afford out-of-state travel to bear all costs themselves while making abortion effectively inaccessible for low-income residents regardless of where the procedure might be legal.