Courts could put Texas GOP's aggressive agenda to the test

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Republicans have been pushing an aggressive agenda despite promised court challenges, including legislation that would let police ask drivers whether they're in the U.S. legally, restrict what school bathrooms transgender students can use, ban most second-trimester abortions and let adoption agencies reject gay couples over religious objections.

Abortion rights groups, civil rights lawyers and LGBT organizations have also renewed pledges to take the state to court this summer following a whirlwind weekend in which the Republican-controlled Legislature pushed new anti-abortion bills, a religious objections bill and a so-called "bathroom bill" closer to Abbott's desk before lawmakers adjourn May 29.

Federal judges this spring found intentional discrimination in the state's voter ID law and Republican-drawn voting maps, and last summer, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a sweeping Texas anti-abortion law that prompted more than half of the state's abortion clinics to close.

Since Abbott signed the sanctuary city bill, the American Civil Liberties Union and big Texas cities have pledged lawsuits, while the state in turn has pre-emptively asked a federal court to declare the law constitutional.