ACLU
The ACLU's framework — civil-liberties absolutism on free speech, church-state separation, criminal-justice reform, immigrants' rights, anti-surveillance, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights — runs Abbott's record almost entirely against the framework. Abbott has signed and defended in court: SB 10 (Ten Commandments), SB 11 (school prayer), SB 763 (chaplains), SB 12 (LGBTQ-club ban and pronoun ban), SB 14 (trans-care ban), SB 15 (trans athletes), HB 900 (READER Act book ratings), HB 1927 (permitless carry), SB 8 (abortion ban), SB 4 (state immigration enforcement), Operation Lone Star, and SB 17 (foreign-land ownership). Hinojosa has voted against essentially each of those and her HB 73 (gay/trans panic defense ban) is an ACLU-aligned positive. ACLU-Texas has sued the state on multiple of these bills. Hinojosa is the substantially better ACLU fit; Abbott runs as a near-perfect ACLU opposition test case.
Sources
- Texas Tribune, 'Ten Commandments in Texas schools: SB 10 explained,' May 24, 2025. (full list)
- Texas AFT, 'SB 12, the Parents Bill of Rights, deep dive,' 2025 — pronoun, DEI, and GSA provisions. (full list)
- Eleanor Klibanoff, 'Texas bans gender-affirming care for trans minors,' Texas Tribune, June 2, 2023. (full list)
- CBS News, 'Texas immigration law SB 4, making illegal entry a state crime, signed by Greg Abbott,' Dec. 2023. (full list)
- American Civil Liberties Union: civil-liberties absolutist; church-state separation, criminal-justice reform, immigrants' rights, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights. (full list)