Updated on June 10, 2019, at 8 a.m. to reflect that Abbott has signed the bill.

AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott has signed a bill that would block taxpayer money from going to health care providers that perform abortions.

Senate Bill 22, one of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's top priorities, narrowly passed the Texas House last month. In the final days of the legislative session, the Senate agreed with that chamber's changes to the bill.

Without fanfare, Abbott signed the bill late Friday.

The bill would bar local governments from contracting with abortion providers or their affiliates, including allowing the sale, purchase, lease or donation of money, goods, services or property. If it becomes law, the bill would end a deal the city of Austin has in place to lease a building to Planned Parenthood for $1 a year.

On May 24, when the Senate took lawmakers' final action on the bill, Senate Democrats said it would hamper local health officials from serving their citizens and raised concerns about a change the House made to the legislation.

"This bill would severely restrict the liberty of public health departments of others to coordinate or support Planned Parenthood," Sen. José Rodríguez, D-El Paso, warned. "That's unfortunate."

Democrats also expressed worry about an amendment Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, attached to the bill in the House. His change said the bill, if it becomes law, "may not be construed to restrict a municipality or county from prohibiting abortion."

But Sen. Donna Campbell, an emergency room doctor, defended her bill and said the Stickland amendment had no effect.

"That's just a statement of fact. It doesn't do anything," said Campbell, R-New Braunfels. "It doesn't grant any authority to restrict abortions. That's a federal — that's already been decided in court."

"If Planned Parenthood did not do abortions, they would be able to have taxpayer dollars," she added.

The GOP-dominated Senate then voted 20-11 to OK the amendment and send the bill to Abbott.

Senate Bill 22 ranks among three abortion-related bills that Patrick listed among his 30 legislative session priorities in March. The other two would subject a physician who fails to treat an infant born alive after an abortion to a six-figure fine and possible imprisonmentand tighten the requirement that women seeking abortions be given information prepared by the state.

On June 7, Abbott also signed the bill on information given to women seeking abortions. And the so-called "born alive" bill also has a good chance of becoming law.

The abortion debate in Texas comes at a time when state Legislatures across the South are pursuing bills to make it harder for women to get abortions, and on the heels of the Alabama governor signing into law a bill that virtually outlaws abortions.

During debate on Senate Bill 22 in the Texas House on May 17, Lucas Republican Rep. Candy Noble urged colleagues to see her bill as a taxpayer protection act.

“Abortion is not health care,” Noble said, “but instead it’s the intentional destruction of innocent human life.”

Abortion rights groups have said the bill would hamper local health authorities from serving their citizens, with consequences such as banning "pop up" clinics on community college campuses that provide access to birth control and health screenings; preventive health care appointments for women, such as cervical cancer screenings offered through county websites and initiatives; and distributions of free condoms by any city or county health department.

The House debate, which stretched on for more than seven hours, spiraled into a fight pitting many of the chambers' Democratic women against the majority-Republican body. Democrats unsuccessfully offered several amendments throughout the night to weaken the bill's impact.

Some of the female lawmakers offered stories about how they relied on Planned Parenthood for health care services earlier in their lives.

Rep. Ana Maria Ramos, D-Richardson, offered emotional testimony admitting that she'd had a baby at the age of 15 and had previously turned to Planned Parenthood for assistance.

"Access to Planned Parenthood gave me the opportunity to fight for the little girl on my hands," she said.

She called the bill an "attack" on women's health care and said poor women, who lack health insurance, would die without access to health services.

Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, said the consequence of attacking organizations like Planned Parenthood for abortion is that it denies women access to contraception.

"It will actually have the effect of driving up the abortion rate. If Texas wants to prevent abortions, it needs to prevent unwanted pregnancies," she said. "To cut off the premier provider, it's a deliberate disregard for women's health."

Democrat Eddie Rodriguez, addressing Noble from the mic at the rear of the chamber, asked her if the East Austin clinic in his district was the target of the bill.

She replied: “Are you wanting me to say that this is the only issue? Absolutely not.”

Rodriguez then asked Noble if the bill would end events educating residents of El Paso, Dallas and Fort Worth about sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.

Noble replied that she hadn’t found all of the described examples but that state-supported clinics unaffiliated with abortion providers already offer health services.

Staff writers James Barragan, Lauren McGaughy and Robert T. Garrett contributed to this report.