Republican state Senator Angela Paxton has introduced legislation that would require online retailers to verify the age of purchasers before selling so-called “obscene devices,” such as sex toys, to customers in Texas.

Senate Bill 3003, filed this month, is the latest in a growing wave of online age-verification proposals in Texas. Paxton — wife of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the named respondent in the pending Supreme Court case Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton — is also the lead sponsor of the state’s current age-check law for pornographic websites, which is now under national scrutiny.

SB 3003 proposes that any website selling “obscene devices” to Texans must implement age-verification procedures, including the submission of government-issued identification or use of third-party verification services. Site operators who fail to comply would face a $5,000 fine and misdemeanor charges.

While age-verification mandates for adult content have raised First Amendment challenges in court, this latest bill centers on consumer goods, not expressive content — raising a different set of legal issues.

Attorney Lawrence Walters, who specializes in adult industry litigation, said that SB 3003 may instead conflict with substantive due process protections under the Fourteenth Amendment.

“Restrictions or prohibitions on the sale of ‘obscene devices’ trigger substantive due process concerns,” Walters said. “The government is prohibited from burdening an individual’s right to engage in private intimate conduct of his or her choosing.”

Such laws have been struck down in several states, including Texas. In the 2008 case Reliable Consultants v. Earle, the Fifth Circuit ruled that Texas’s ban on sex toy sales was unconstitutional. SB 3003 revives this issue under the framework of age restriction rather than an outright ban.

Another legal concern stems from Texas’s attempt to regulate interstate e-commerce. Retailers without a physical presence in the state may challenge the law under the Commerce Clause, which limits states from enacting laws that unduly burden interstate trade.

For online sellers like Betty’s Toy Box, the proposed law could have immediate commercial consequences.

“Sales would definitely drop from Texas, at least in the short term,” said CEO Carolyn Eagle. “First-time shoppers who may be nervous to begin with — this is going to deter them from visiting.”

Eagle noted that her company currently collects only basic personal information, such as names and billing addresses. Implementing age checks could pose logistical challenges and compromise user privacy.

“It all sounds like a potential logistical nightmare,” she added. “Stores could just decide to stop shipping to Texas.”

That scenario has already played out in other states. Several adult platforms, including Pornhub, discontinued access in states like Louisiana and Utah after similar age verification laws were passed.

SB 3003 arrives as the Supreme Court weighs the constitutionality of Texas’s age-verification law for adult content websites. That case, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, could establish a nationwide precedent.

Meanwhile, another bill under consideration in Texas — HB 1549 — would bar big-box retailers from selling sex toys unless they qualify as “sexually oriented businesses.”

While SB 3003 may be framed as a measure to protect children, critics argue it is part of a wider political effort to regulate adult expression and intimacy.

“These laws aren’t just about protecting minors,” said one free speech advocate. “They’re about building momentum toward a broader agenda — what some see as a slow march toward criminalizing adult content altogether.”

The bill is currently under consideration in committee. If passed, it would make Texas one of the first states to mandate age verification for consumer sales of sex toys online.