AUSTIN, Texas — The debate over access to abortion pills in Texas returned to the Texas Capitol on Tuesday during a Senate State Affairs Committee hearing on the latest law restricting access to the medication.

In a notice ahead of the hearing, committee leadership noted a goal to, “make recommendations to further protect women and children in Texas.” Tuesday, Republican Chairman Bryan Hughes welcomed invited and public comment on House Bill 7, which became law following a special session last summer.

The law prohibits the manufacture, mailing and distribution of abortion-inducing drugs, with some limitations for certain medical emergencies. It also created a new civil enforcement system, allowing for lawsuits against people illegally providing Texans access to abortion pills inside and outside of state lines.

As legal challenges involving access to abortion pills from out-of-state providers continue to work their way through the courts, people on both sides of the issue brought their concerns to lawmakers.

“The legislature must continue to explore what is next in protecting Texans here on this topic and creating a culture that values each individual human and opposes these efforts to dehumanize the small, the weak, and the voiceless,” John Seago, president of Texas Right to Life, told the Senate committee.

Representatives from abortion rights groups, including Planned Parenthood Texas and Avow Texas, spoke ahead of the hearing.

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“The intent of HB 7 is clear. It is to create an environment of fear and confusion where people deny their own needs to survive. They pre-comply, and they believe that obedience to cruel laws is the safest choice,” said Raven Freeborn, executive director of Avow.

Abortion rights advocates urged lawmakers to focus instead on increasing access to affordable health care.

“We are here to let those governing over us know that the majority of Texans oppose such an agenda,” Freeborn said.

New polling from the Texas Politics Project shows just over half of Texans believe women should be able to access abortion pills if they’re prescribed by an out-of-state doctor where abortion remains legal, but a divide remains along party lines.

“Attitudes among Republicans are not very settled,” said James Henson, Texas Politics Project director. “Clear majorities of Democrats support access for women to pills prescribed out of state and then delivered. And a slim majority of independents also support access to abortion pills, about 56%.”

Wednesday marks four years since the U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. A near-total ban on abortion in Texas went into effect just weeks later.

Still, anti-abortion groups told lawmakers the law has not gone far enough.

“This specific evil of the abortion pill–we need more help to make them less accessible,” said Jana Pinson, executive director of the Pregnancy Center of the Coastal Bend.

Ahead of a return to the capitol for the 90th Legislative Session in January, Hughes noted the committee’s interim charge to “protect the unborn.”

“We recognize there’s a little unborn baby whose life needs to be protected, and there’s a mom who needs to be loved and respected and protected, and we can do both,” Hughes said.

The testimony gathered at interim hearings can be used to shape priorities and legislation during the upcoming session.