The Dangerous Truth Behind Senate Bill 30

When legislation is sold to conservatives as “tort reform” or “civil justice modernization,” red flags should go up. And when that same legislation quietly protects the transgender industry, shields schools and medical providers from accountability, and benefits insurance companies at the expense of Texas families, it must be stopped. Senate Bill 30 (SB 30) is one of the most dangerous bills being considered this session. The Texas Legislature must reject it. 

SB 30 is backed by Texans for Lawsuit Reform (TLR), a powerful lobbying group who cloaks corporate interests in the language of family values. Their goal? Minimize legal accountability and maximize protections for large institutions - even when those institutions are responsible for harming children. 

Under the guise of “civil justice reform,” SB 30 limits the ability of Texans to recover noneconomic damages - the very type of damages victims of so-called “gender-affirming care” most often rely on in court. These victims have suffered irreversible bodily harm, trauma, and emotional distress. Yet under the bill, their pain would be capped and minimized while procedural hurdles would be stacked against them. 

The bill changes how plaintiffs can prove emotional pain, requiring “objectively verifiable” evidence of anguish. In real-world terms, this means many detransitioners and harmed children would be unable to recover anything for the abuse they endured unless it meets a narrow and bureaucratic definition of pain. It’s a slap in the face to those already silenced. And it flies in the face of a growing movement to allow detransitioners to hold doctors, clinics, and institutions accountable. Across Europe and in numerous U.S. states, courts and lawmakers are beginning to recognize the long-term harm of radical gender interventions and the need for victims to seek justice. Texas should be leading this effort, not cutting it off at the knees.

In addition, SB 30 allows medical providers to submit affidavits instead of appearing in court.  This would shield gender clinics and school-based counselors from testifying under oath. Victims cannot cross-examine a piece of paper! This provision will especially benefit pediatric gender clinics and public school employees who socially transition children without parental consent. 

The most egregious part? SB 30 is being deceptively packaged as “pro-family” while delivering the trangender industry one of the most powerful legal shields we’ve ever seen. It would protect the very institutions who mutilate and chemically sterilize children, making it nearly impossible for families to seek justice. Behind its polished legal language lies a calculated effort to silence victims, bury accountability, and cement a legal framework to prioritize corporate protection over child welfare and parental rights.

This is a Christmas tree bill decorated with shiny ornaments of reform but loaded with presents for big insurance companies and LGBTQ ideologues. 

We’ve seen this playbook before. The same special interests that backed COVID mandates and opposed meaningful protections for parental rights are lining up behind SB 30. They’ve inserted carve outs, manipulated definitions, and hidden radical change in hundreds of pages of legalese. 

But parents in Texas are awake. And we will not allow a big business and big insurance bill to masquerade as conservative reform. 

If the legislature wants to protect Texas families, it must stand up to TLR and kill Senate Bill 30. 

Texas Children deserve real protection. And Texans deserve to know the truth.