HOUSTON, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Republican-dominated Texas legislature on Wednesday night approved a bill that would allow people to sue anyone who manufactures, distributes, mails or provides abortion medication to or from the second-largest U.S. state.

The bill now heads to Republican Governor Greg Abbott's desk. If Abbott, an abortion opponent, signs it into law, the bill will take effect in December, making Texas the first U.S. state to crack down on the most common abortion method in the country.

The Texas state Senate on Wednesday passed the bill by a vote of 17 to 8 following a state House floor vote in August.

The bill allows private citizens to sue manufacturers and distributors of abortion-inducing drugs. Successful plaintiffs would be awarded at least 100,000 U.S. dollars in damages, according to a report from The Texas Tribune.

If the plaintiff is not directly related to the fetus, they would only be entitled to 10 percent of the award, and would have to give the remaining money to a charity of their choosing, the report added.

Women taking abortion pills would not be eligible to be sued under the bill, nor would women who take them after miscarriages, said the report.

Democratic state Senator Carol Alvarado, who voted against the bill, on Wednesday slammed the legislature, saying it "deputizes Texans as bounty hunters."

The "cruelest part of this bill is that it punishes intent," he added.

Texas has some of the toughest abortion restrictions in the country and already bans nearly all abortions.

Local analysts said the bill is nearly certain to spark legal challenges from abortion rights supporters. ■