politics
Abbott Signs Abortion-Law Clarification, Ten Commandments Bills
Gov. Greg Abbott signed about 600 bills into law, including measures on abortion protections and Ten Commandments displays in schools, but left pending a controversial THC ban.
Published June 21, 2025 at 10:19pm

With one day to go before the deadline to sign or veto bills from the 2025 legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott on Saturday put his signature on about 600 proposed new laws, including one that provides protections for doctors who perform emergency abortions and another requiring the posting of donated copies of the Ten Commandments in public schools.
But the most anticipated legislation, Senate Bill 3 to outlaw the sale and consumption of intoxicating hemp products, was not among the trove of bill signed into law. Neither was the state budget, the only bill the Legislature is required to enact every two years. The governor has the power to veto specific line-item spending proposals that lawmakers include in the budget for the two-year cycle that starts Sept. 1.
Among the most watched measures during the session that ended June 2 was Senate Bill 31, signed Saturday and designed to close a loophole in Texas' highly restrictive abortion laws that advocates said is forcing doctors to refuse to terminate some pregnancies they believe are needed to protect a woman's life and safety.
When the bill was being debated in the House last month, Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, said the measure will benefit both physicians and woman facing life-threatening pregnancy.
"We know women have died after care was delayed or denied," said Geren, a supporter of the abortion ban and the House sponsor of SB 31. "We know women have left Texas for lifesaving care. We know women have been horribly injured because doctors have refused to provide abortions that could save their bodies. Doctors and hospitals need the clarity that SB 31 can provide."
The signing of the Ten Commandments legislation, SB 10, has long been a priority of the Texas Republican Party, which has rejected arguments that it would unconstitutionally established government-imposed religion. The signing came one day after a three-judge panel of the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a similar measure enacted in Louisiana that the judges said is "plainly unconstitutional."
Abbott, in a news release, did not comment on any individual pieces of legislation he signed. But overall, the three-term Republican said, the tranche of measures will improve Texas' quality of life and business environment.
"Today, I signed critical legislation passed in the 89th Regular Legislative Session that protects the safety of Texans and safeguards the individual freedoms that our great state was founded on," Abbott said in the release.
While Abbott has not yet tipped his hand on what he will do with SB 3, a top priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the Texas Senate that is informally known as the THC ban, proponents of keeping the hemp derivative legal have been exerting public pressure for weeks. Among SB 3 opponents are veteran organizations and many libertarian-leaning Republicans.
The Texas Hemp Business Council on Wednesday said it had amassed nearly 150,000 petition signatures urging Abbott to veto the measure. And the Texas commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars wrote in an op-ed published Wednesday in the American-Statesman that now-legal hemp products containing THC provide former military service members coping with post-traumatic stress an alternative to what he called the "opioid trap" of some prescription medications.
"We need functional relief that allows us to work, drive, and participate in family life — not products that leave us impaired," Dave Walden of the VFW said in the opinion piece.
Among the bills signed as of midafternoon Saturday, including some of the 300-plus announced by the governor's office late Friday, are:
- SB 7, which provides a $1 billion revenue stream to fund future water development projects.
- SB 9, which restricts who is eligible for release on cashless personal bonds.
- SB 34, which is designed to beef up preparation for wildfire and will provide state funding for qualifying volunteer fire departments.
- HB 1397, which will transfer "the care and custody" of the William B. Travis “Victory or Death” letter, the Texas Constitution and the Texas Declaration of Independence to the State Preservation Board. The measure also establishes a process for the documents to be displayed at the Alamo under the preservation board's guidance.
- HB 11, which makes it simpler to work in Texas by recognizing out-of-state occupational licenses.
- HB 12, which is the Legislature's version of the Trump administration's "DOGE" effort, or Department of Government Efficiency, that requires regular audits of state agencies.
- HB 29, which establishes water audit validation and mitigation requirements for municipally-owned utilities that provided potable water to 150,000 service connections or more.
- HB 33, which is designed to improve school safety through planning and training.
- HB 229, which codifies Texas recognizes only two sexes — male and female.
Here is the complete list of bills from the 2025 Legislature that have been signed into law.