TLR Tried to Outlaw Religious, Family, & Community Values in Texas Courts

In 2025, Texans for Lawsuit Reform (TLR) wrote and tried to pass a bill that made it illegal for a victim of harm to speak about or even hint at their family values, religious values, or community values in Texas courts when someone injures them or kills a family member.

SB 30 would have made it illegal (“reversible error” as the bill says) to allow or even suggest any reference to “values” while determining damages during trial. As first introduced, SB 30 made it illegal to speak of “the value of human life” but was later changed to outlaw “values.”

This is antithetical to Republicans, the party of Life. To say the value of human life can not be discussed, in the eyes of the law, human life then has no value.

The change from “value of human life” as introduced in SB 30 to “values” in the engrossed version of SB 30 did not fix the attacks on our faith and beliefs. Take, for example, a pregnant mother who was injured in a crash. As a result of the crash, she loses her baby. TLR wanted to make it illegal for that mother to tell the jury she saw her growing baby as a life, and no value of money would bring back her child.

Or for the father to say, the drunk driver killed my unborn child in my wife’s womb. That harm is against my religious values. TLR wants to make all of this ILLEGAL. Why? Because TLR is looking out for insurance companies, not everyday Texans. TLR and big insurance companies don’t want juries to consider the religious values, the community values, or the family values of those who are harmed or injured. Insurance companies fear they will have to pay more when the person they insured violates someone’s religious or community values.

Look on page 21 in the original language of TLR’s SB 30 bill below.

SB 30, page 21, TLR’s bill filed by Schwernter

Additionally, you can see TLR’s President, Lee Parsley, testifying in support of SB 30’s attempt to outlaw the “valuation of human life” here.

Eliminating values from Texas Courts is not a Republican principle. Did you know TLR also opposed President Trump and Governor Abbott on foreign truck drivers knowing English? And they have given over $6,000,000.00 in campaign contributions to 144 Democrats? Republicans need to reject TLR.