AUSTIN — The Texas Ethics Commission has fined anti-abortion group Texas Right to Life $7,500 for illegally paying $37,915 to air an ad on Dallas radio stations for state Sen. Bob Hall’s 2018 reelection campaign.

The commission, which oversees campaign finance, imposed the fine in November after finding that the group’s corporate arm, not its political action committee, paid for the ads during the Edgewood Republican’s primary campaign against former state Rep. Cindy Burkett.

Texas law generally prohibits corporations from making political contributions to candidates or officeholders, according to the commission’s general counsel, Ian Steusloff.

Kimberlyn Schwartz, Texas Right to Life’s director of media and communication, said the group “self-corrected and self-reported” the mistake and has paid the commission’s fine to avoid a drawn-out legal battle.

“The Texas Ethics Commission is known for targeting citizens and nonprofits, including Texas Right to Life,” Schwartz said in an email. “Due to the commission's web of rules aimed at limiting free speech, average citizens find it very difficult to be engaged in the political process without incurring hefty fines and lengthy court battles.”

Hall did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The group paid for an ad using Hall’s voice to air on three Dallas radio stations in December 2017, according to the commission. The ad included a disclosure that said, “Paid for by Texas Right to Life Committee, the oldest and largest pro-life organization in Texas.”

A check from the corporation paid for a political expenditure of $21,915, according to the commission, and two other expenditures of $8,000 each were charged to a credit card in the name of the corporation’s finance manager and with its billing address.

The corporate arm disclosed the three expenditures for the radio ad in a January 2018 campaign finance report. But in February of that year, right before an ethics complaint against Texas Right To Life was filed, the corporation filed a correction to explain that its report had “inadvertently reflected an expense that belonged to Texas Right to Life’s Political Action Committee.”

Texas Right To Life also “abruptly deleted” a video featuring Hall’s voice in February 2018 upon his request, according to The Texas Tribune.

In response to the sworn complaint, the group provided documentation that its PAC had reimbursed its corporation for the political expenditures on March 15, 2018.

Hall, first elected to the Texas Senate in 2015, also received support from the conservative group Empower Texans during his 2018 reelection bid.

Hall narrowly beat Burkett in the March primary and ousted Democratic candidate Kendall Scudder in the general election. He will be up for reelection again in 2022.