With Texas’ hardline conservative megadonors largely staying on the sidelines, a handful of House primaries have become battlegrounds for the state’s civil justice debate.

The goal of the bill, according to the author, was to curb “nuclear verdicts” — ones that award victims $10 million or more.

The House made changes to the proposal that leave open ways for victims to be compensated beyond medical bills.

House Bill 2988 was centered on who pays the legal fees of those who successfully defend themselves against libel or defamation lawsuits.

Senate Bill 8, which allows anyone to sue anyone who performs or aids in an abortion, marks an unprecedented change to who has standing to bring a lawsuit. The tactic is also an emerging trend in Republican-dominated states that may compromise constitutional rights, some legal experts said.