Two days before one of the strictest abortion laws in the country is set to go into effect in Texas, the state Legislature tentatively approved another bill Monday evening that would restrict the procedure during the first term of pregnancy.

Senate Bill 4 remains identical to the version of the bill passed by the Texas Senate. Texas Democrats were unable to attach amendments to the bill, despite more than a dozen attempts, which means the bill will head straight to Gov. Greg Abbott‘s desk if it is finally approved with no changes.

The legislation would limit patients’ access to abortion-inducing pills, preventing physicians or providers from giving abortion-inducing medication to patients who are more than seven weeks pregnant. Current law allows practitioners to give these pills to patients who are up to 10 weeks pregnant.

Notably, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration set its guidelines in 2016 advising that abortion-inducing pills are safe to use up to 70 days, or 10 weeks, after initial conception.

These pills have increasingly become the most common method for women to terminate a pregnancy if they are aware of their pregnancy early enough. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research institute that supports abortion rights, 60% of women elect to take a pill over having surgery.

In an impassioned speech, Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, slammed the Legislature for continuously passing laws restricting access to abortion.

“I’m really tired of every single session, having to come here and debate one more obstacle to a woman having a right to choose what happens to her own body and her own destiny,” Howard said.

“There have always been abortions. There always will be abortions. And the best thing that we can do is No. 1: help people to not have unwanted pregnancies in the first place.”

In two days, another bill that will ban abortions in Texas after six weeks, including in cases of rape and incest, goes into effect in Texas. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed an emergency request in the U.S. Supreme Court to try and prevent the enforcement of that legislation.

This one, SB 4, will also ban abortion-inducing pills from being mailed in Texas. The Biden administration, last April, temporarily allowed the medication to be mailed due to the coronavirus when in-person doctor visits were not always possible or advised.

Rep. Stephanie Klick, R-Fort Worth, said this measure was necessary because the FDA could make the change allowing mailing pills permanent.

This article was written by KEVIN REYNOLDS AND KATE MCGEE of The Texas Tribune.  The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them – about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.  This article originally appeared at: https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/30/texas-abortion-inducing-pill-texas/