Texas state Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, the lead sponsor of the new bill, in May 2023.Eric Gay/Associated Press

This story was produced in partnership with CBS News.

Republican lawmakers in Texas have opened a new front in their efforts to crack down on abortion, this time with a bill that would enable lawsuits targeting the use of medication to terminate pregnancies. Their proposal would also take aim at shield laws in other states that protect manufacturers and the doctors who prescribe abortion pills.

In Texas, it is already illegal to knowingly mail, carry, or deliver abortion-inducing drugs. It is also illegal for a doctor not licensed in the state of Texas to prescribe abortion medication.

Now, in the midst of an already-controversial special legislative session, lawmakers have reintroduced a bill that would allow lawsuits to target anyone who manufactures, mails, delivers, prescribes, or distributes abortion pills. The bill would also permit people to file a wrongful death lawsuit if the medication results in harm or the death of a fetus or the mother, within a statute of........

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