TEXAS — The Texas Legislature passed over 1,200 bills this year, and Gov. Greg Abbott signed over 1,100 of them into law. Now, they are beginning to take effect.

On Sept. 1, 2025, more than 800 laws went into effect. It was the traditional date for laws passed during the regular session to take effect, but now some laws are becoming active this month and in January.

Here is a brief overview of some of the laws supposed to take effect in December:

Mid-decade redistricting

The newly redrawn congressional map that was pushed by Republicans at the urging of President Donald Trump is supposed to take effect on Dec. 4. The map is currently undergoing a legal battle, which has gone back and forth.

A federal court in El Paso ruled against the mid-decade redrawn map last month, saying Texas should instead use the 2021 map. The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocked that decision until the justices can decide whether to allow the new map to be used in next year’s midterm elections.

Under the 2025 map, Republicans are projected to gain five more seats, representing 30 of Texas’ 38 congressional districts.

Dementia research

Another law that is facing a legal battle is Senate Bill 5, a constitutional amendment that would fund research into brain-related conditions and create the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. Voters approved the measure during the November election this year, but a couple of voters in Travis County are suing the Texas Secretary of State’s office for alleged faulty voting machines.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called the lawsuit “disgusting” and “a disservice to the roughly 500,000 Texans who suffer from some form of dementia, and their families who suffer along with them.”

Bathroom ban

Senate Bill 8 was passed during the special session, and it is set to take effect on Dec. 4.

The law restricts transgender people from using certain state-owned private spaces, such as bathrooms, and requires them to use the facilities of their sex assigned at birth.

It also requires inmates to be housed in correctional facilities of their sex assigned at birth, and it restricts domestic violence shelters for women to only those female assigned at birth or a child of the person receiving the care.

Goodbye STAAR

Another law taking effect on Dec. 4 is House Bill 8, which replaces the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) with three shorter standardized tests spread throughout the school year. Despite the law taking effect, students will not start taking the new assessments until next school year.

Abortion pills

Since the fall of Roe v. Wade, abortion has not been legal in Texas unless the mother’s life is at risk. Lawmakers expanded upon that ban with House Bill 7, which allows people to sue anyone who manufactures or distributes abortion pills in Texas. According to the Guttmacher Institute, medication abortions accounted for 63% of all U.S. abortions in 2023.

House Bill 7 expands Texas’ near-total abortion ban, which relies on private citizens to enforce the law through civil suits.

Quorum-breaking restrictions

Following the Texas Democrats’ departure from the state earlier this year in order to delay a vote on the mid-decade redistricting, the Legislature passed House Bill 18, which creates penalties for lawmakers who break quorum.

The law, which goes into effect on Dec. 4, creates harsher fines for quorum breakers and creates limits on what they can fundraise.

Ivermectin

House Bill 25 allows pharmacists to dispense ivermectin without a prescription. The drug is used to treat parasitic worms and head lice in humans, but it originated as an antiparasitic for animals. This goes into effect on Dec. 4.

Shielding trafficking victims

On Dec. 4, Senate Bill 11 will take effect, shielding trafficking victims from prosecution for certain crimes if they were forced or coerced to do them.