Texas Democrats fled the state over the weekend to stop a Republican proposal redrawing the state’s congressional maps. But their exit has also temporarily halted other conservative priorities for the special session — including new abortion restrictions and a “bathroom bill” that would ban transgender people from using public restrooms that match their gender.

When Democratic members of the Texas House of Representatives left the state this weekend, it denied lawmakers the two-thirds quorum needed to proceed with legislative work. That move came after a House committee voted to approve the new congressional maps, a plan — crafted on President Donald Trump’s request — that would likely flip five Democratic seats to favor Republicans. The redistricting effort has set off a national arms race as Democratic governors, including in New York and California, discuss changing their states’ congressional maps heading into the 2026 midterms.

Gov. Greg Abbott has threatened state Democrats with removal from office if they don’t return to Austin. But it’s not clear if or how he could enforce that threat. Breaking quorum is not a crime, and whether those lawmakers could be forced out of their seats is a question likely to be settled in the courts.

Although the redistricting effort has taken center stage in the ongoing special legislative session, Abbott tasked lawmakers with a host of other priorities. Time may be running out: The special session began July 21, and ends after no more than 30 days. Already, some are considering the possibility of lawmakers returning to the capital for a second special session to tackle now derailed items like further abortion restrictions and the anti-trans bill.

Following pressure from state and national anti-abortion activists, Abbott asked for legislation that would have let private citizens sue health providers for mailing or prescribing abortion medication to patients in Texas — an effort to block health care from groups like Aid Access, an organization through which medical professionals in other states prescribe and mail abortion pills to people living under bans. A similar proposal failed to make it in time to the House floor in the final days of the state’s regular lawmaking session earlier this year.

Abortion is already nearly completely outlawed in Texas and 11 other states; several more restrict abortion at various points in pregnancy. But thousands of patients have circumvented their state ban by ordering pills online to take at home. The practice is medically safe and effective but has frustrated abortion opponents, who say that the telehealth option has undercut their efforts to end abortion in their states. About 1 in 5 abortions nationally are done through telehealth, and half of those are for people living in states with bans.

Attorney General Ken Paxton has already launched a civil lawsuit against New York-based Dr. Margaret Carpenter of New York for mailing abortion pills to a Texas patient; a Texas court has found her guilty, but her home state has declined to enforce the ruling. Another Texan, a man named Jerry Rodriguez, has sued California-based Dr. Remy Coeytaux for allegedly mailing abortion medication to Rodriguez’s girlfriend.

Abbott also put on the agenda a bill that would ban trans people from using public restrooms that match their genders. The legislation would cover spaces such as restrooms, locker rooms, gym showers and changing rooms, influencing shared spaces in schools, state-contracted domestic violence shelters, correctional facilities and higher education facilities. If enacted, the bill would make Texas the largest state with such restrictions. 

The bathroom bill received a Senate committee hearing Monday. But the abortion bill has not yet been introduced in the state legislature. And another top priority is waiting for lawmaker action: addresing the Kerr County floods, which have resulted in more than 100 deaths, per state tallies, including more than two dozen campers and counselors from the all-girls Camp Mystic. No legislation addressing the issue has been voted out of committee for a full vote in either legislative chamber.

Still, some in the state, including prominent anti-abortion activists, said they have confidence their proposals will pass, if not in these next two weeks, then in another targeted special session.

“We definitely acknowledge the political hurdles for the bill at this point, but this is a priority for the governor, this is a priority for Republican leadership. So we still think there is a way to get this bill passed,” said John Seago, the head of Texas Right to Life, a chief proponent of the abortion medication bill. “It may take longer than expected but we have no reason to believe this will be the end of our bill on abortion pills.”

The Texas governor has the power to call legislators back for special sessions to address key priorities. In 2023, the last time lawmakers met, Abbott called the legislature for four special sessions, in an effort to pass bills on school vouchers and immigration enforcement. In 2021, he called three special sessions. That year, Democrats temporarily broke quorum in an effort to block a voting restrictions bill. After six weeks, three Democrats returned to the state, enough to let legislating continue.

“Ultimately the priorities the governor stays dedicated to will get passed,” Seago said.