Texas Senate Bills 33 and 2880: A Soft Launch for Authoritarian Control?
Texas SB 33 & 2880 go beyond abortion to sanction censorship, weaponize control, criminalize support, and fuel distrust. Here’s why they’re so dangerous.
Update (May 25): When I first published this piece in March, SB 33 and SB 2880 were still moving through committee. Today, SB 33 has passed both chambers and awaits Governor Abbott’s signature. SB 2880 passed the Senate on April 30 and is now before the Texas House, where a vote could happen any day.
This isn’t just a legislative update, it’s a warning. SB 2880 could criminalize helping someone access abortion pills, or even sharing accurate medical information online. It opens the door to state-sanctioned censorship and surveillance, not just around abortion, but potentially any topic the state wants to target next.
If it passes, it will mark the beginning of legally sanctioned censorship and surveillance in Texas, disguised as health policy. This bill weaponizes private lawsuits, criminalizes compassion, and punishes speech. It turns everyday acts of help, such as sharing information, into potential legal liability.
And once the government proves it can silence abortion-related content, it can go after anything else it deems inconvenient.
For any lawmaker who claims to defend free speech or liberty, or privacy, this is the vote where to prove it.
SB 33 and SB 2880 are alarming in many ways, but what stands out most is their expansion of surveillance, censorship, the criminalization of those who offer help, and the particularly devastating impact on women experiencing domestic violence.
Texas already has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. The introduction of SB 33 and SB 2880 extends beyond regulating abortion and raises a fundamental concern: how far the government is willing to go in restricting personal decisions, suppressing information, and penalizing private citizens. These bills are not just about abortion; they represent a broader shift toward government control over personal freedoms, information access, and community support.
These bills do not protect life. They endanger Texans, especially the most vulnerable - women experiencing domestic violence, rape victims, and those facing medical crises. These bills expand government overreach by encouraging surveillance, punishing support networks, and restricting access to medically accurate, life saving information. Instead of ensuring safety, they instill fear, forcing Texans to question whether offering help to a loved one or even sharing medical information could result in jail time or financial devastation.
At a time when our society is already deeply divided, it’s critical to examine the impact of such legislation. These bills threaten to turn Texan against Texan, heighten suspicion within communities, and further entrench public polarization.
If you care about freedom, censorship, and digital rights, this fight is bigger than reproductive healthcare. It’s about who gets to decide what we can say, do, and know. The implementation of these bills could set a precedent for restricting access to other types of medical information. Today, it’s abortion. Tomorrow, it could be contraception, gender-affirming care, or dissent itself.
And what’s happening in Texas is the soft launch of a playbook that is designed to scale.
SB33 and SB2880 Explained
At it’s face value, TX SB33 prohibits Texas government entities from using public funds to support individuals seeking abortions. This includes logistical assistance such as childcare, transportation, and lodging. The bill targets cities like Austin and San Antonio, which have allocated funds for out-of-state abortion travel, undermining local sovereignty and affecting low-income women who rely on these services.
TX SB2880 introduces severe civil and criminal penalties for anyone aiding or facilitating abortion access. This includes financial assistance, logistical coordination, and even sharing online information about abortion services, all in the name of making it impossible to receive abortion pills. The bill incentivizes private lawsuits against individuals suspected of assisting in abortions, fostering an environment of fear and surveillance where neighbors are encouraged to report one another.
Broader Implications: Surveillance, Censorship, and Personal Freedoms
1. Turning Citizens into Informants & Fostering Fear and Suspicion
SB 2880 introduces provisions that incentivize private citizens to file lawsuits against their neighbors, coworkers, and even family members if they suspect someone has assisted an individual in obtaining abortion care. This effectively deputizes private individuals, fostering an environment of suspicion and fear where Texans are encouraged to police one another's private decisions.
Under this bill:
Texans could face lawsuits simply for providing transportation, financial aid, or information to someone in need of abortion care.
There is no requirement for proof or direct involvement—accusations alone could lead to costly and baseless litigation.
Communities will become increasingly divided, as neighbors are encouraged to report one another out of fear or financial incentive.
This approach does not reflect Texan values of privacy, individual liberty, and community support. Rather than fostering safety, SB 2880 erodes trust among Texans, replacing it with fear, suspicion, and state-backed surveillance.
2. Criminalization of Support Networks & Community Assistance
SB 33 would force domestic violence shelters, public health programs, and rape crisis centers to sever ties with organizations that provide reproductive healthcare assistance. This is due to the bill's prohibition on state and local governments partnering with, funding, or assisting any organization that helps Texans access abortion care—even in states where abortion remains legal. The result is the isolation of pregnant individuals in crisis and the restriction of essential services for those experiencing violence.
SB 2880 escalates these restrictions further, criminalizing private individuals, nonprofits, and faith-based organizations for providing even basic support. This includes:
Providing financial assistance for an abortion, even in cases where a woman's abuser controls her finances.
Offering transportation to a clinic, even when pregnancy complications pose a serious risk to the mother's health.
Donating to an abortion fund, a church, or a community support group that helps women in crisis.
By penalizing acts of support and compassion, these bills create legal barriers that disproportionately harm low-income individuals, abuse survivors, and those facing medical emergencies.
History has a way of revealing familiar patterns, and warning us of their consequences. Supporters of these bills are reviving an old playbook; one that isolates the vulnerable, deputizes private citizens as enforcers, and punishes those who dare to help.
3. Government Censorship, Regulation of Free Speech, and Information
Both bills contain provisions that could lead to the censorship of information related to abortion services, restricting access to knowledge and infringing upon free speech.
SB 2880 seeks to criminalize the distribution of information about abortion access and prohibits digital platforms from hosting related content. This bill could force search engines, social media platforms, and websites to censor medically accurate abortion-related information. Such restrictions directly undermine free speech, press freedom, and the right to access medical information. It sets a dangerous precedent for government interference in public discourse, allowing authorities to control and manipulate information, and raising concerns about the state’s role in controlling access to medical and public health information.
The consequences of such measures include:
Restricting access to critical healthcare knowledge, preventing individuals from making informed decisions.
Setting a precedent for broader censorship, potentially leading to restrictions on other forms of medical and public health information.
Efforts to erase and control access to abortion information from the internet follow a disturbing global pattern of authoritarian censorship to control populations and suppress dissent:
China's Great Firewall: The Chinese government heavily censors online content, blocking access to information that contradicts state narratives, including human rights abuses and political dissent. Websites, search engines, and social media platforms are all tightly controlled to prevent people from learning about banned topics.
China's Reproductive Surveillance: Under the now-defunct One-Child Policy, the government strictly monitored pregnancies and forcibly prevented or terminated "unauthorized" births. Today, authorities continue to censor discussions on reproductive rights, gender equality, and healthcare access.
When governments can dictate what medical information people can access, abortion-related content today, what stops them from censoring other health-related information and topics tomorrow?
Who Do These Bills Actually Protect?
If the goal of SB 33 and SB 2880 were truly to protect Texans, they fail catastrophically. These bills do not protect women, families, or life. Instead, they create state-sanctioned tools of coercion, control, and fear, ensuring that those in crisis are stripped of every possible source of help.
These bills provide no exceptions for rape, incest, domestic violence, or other abusive situations. They disregard the medical necessity of abortion in cases of life-threatening pregnancy complications (for which the newly proposed SB 31 is also unhelpful). They ignore the economic, social, and health-related impacts of forced birth. And they foster community distrust and isolation by creating a system where Texans are encouraged to turn against one another, not just punishing those seeking abortion care, but anyone who dares to help them.
State-Sanctioned Tools of Abuse and Coercion
Texas ranks among the most dangerous states for domestic violence victims, and economic dependence is one of the primary reasons victims remain in abusive relationships. By criminalizing support systems, financial assistance, travel support, and even the sharing of medical information, SB 33 and SB 2880 systematically strip away every possible safety net for women and girls in crisis. These bills mirror patterns of domestic abuse, where isolation, resource control, and coercion are used to entrap victims. By cutting off essential forms of support, they force abortion seekers—especially those in abusive situations—into impossible circumstances with no safe way out.
Coercive relationships often involve financial, emotional, and reproductive control, where a partner restricts access to money, manipulates decisions, and uses pregnancy as a tool of power. Abusers sabotage contraception, refuse protection, or coerce pregnancy to keep their partner legally and financially tethered. These bills reinforce that cycle, removing a victims' ability to make independent decisions about their futures.
Even more chilling, these laws create a legal pathway for abusers, rapists, and traffickers to maintain control over their victims. Under SB 2880, a rapist could sue over an abortion and punish anyone who helped his victim terminate a pregnancy he caused, or assisted their victim in seeking care. By failing to acknowledge these realities, or provide meaningful exceptions, these bills ensure that victims remain trapped in cycles of violence and forced pregnancies resulting from their own violation.
Abusers fear women having options and the ability to leave. These bills would strip women of every option except compliance. The state is not just failing those in abusive situations, it is facilitating their entrapment.
Texas's Maternal Health Crisis Will Worsen
Texas already faces a maternal health crisis, with one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country. The situation has become so severe that between 2019 and 2022, Texas saw a 56% rise in maternal deaths, a crisis disproportionately impacting Black and low-income women.
Further, studies show that pregnant women are more likely to be killed by an intimate partner, and this risk is heightened in states like Texas, where access to abortion is severely restricted. Additionally:
studies show that domestic violence increases during pregnancy
the compounded trauma of being denied an abortion heightened mental health risks such as PTSD, depression, and suicidal ideation
Implementing SB 33 and SB 2880 will exacerbate this crisis by further restricting access to essential reproductive healthcare, leading to increased risks of complications and deaths related to pregnancy. These bills will have far-reaching consequences for public health, community trust, and the overall well-being of Texans, particularly those who are already vulnerable.
Final Thoughts
SB 33 and SB 2880 are not just about abortion; they are about control. These bills incentivize citizen led surveillance, criminalize support networks and compassion, and empower abusers while cutting off and silencing support networks. They trample on fundamental freedoms—privacy, autonomy, and the right to make personal choices—while paving the way for greater authoritarian control over our lives, communities, and information.
If left unchecked, SB 33 and SB 2880 set a dangerous precedent—one that threatens fundamental freedoms far beyond Texas.
Good reporting, and watchfulness, about these two TX bills…