Bill Proposal

SB 1031 bans

the sale of cosmetics in Arizona if they were newly tested on animals, with carefully written exceptions so companies can still comply with safety laws.

José Menéndez info

bill 1781 for unnecessary euthanasia in shelters; bill 1568 for animal friendly specialty license plate to fund spay and neuter programs; ethical pet sale bills to regulate source of animals in pet stores

why is this a problem?

animal testing is an outdated way to test products, which causes unnecessary suffering when more accurate and modern alternatives exist; FDA claims over 90% of the products listed safe in animal testing fail in human trials and don’t receive approval; 85% of democratic and republican identifying adults are in agreements for modern alternatives to animal testing in the US; according to cruelty free international, over 600,000 animals were used for testing in 2023 including dogs, cats, mice, monkeys, horses, rabbits, and guinea pigs

alternatives

human cell and lab-grown tissue testing through in vitro, computer models, and organ-on-a-chip technology introduced by Emulate

What is organ on chip?

It is a small device that mimics how human organs work using real human cells. This shows accurate data regarding inflammation markers, toxicity, cell damage, and gene expression without harming animals

What does your proposed bill do?

bans cosmetic animal testing and the sale of cosmetics tested on animals, unless no scientifically valid alternative exists.

What does the bill NOT do?

It does not affect medical research that requires the use of animals, and it does not weaken safety standards, and does not require immediate changes if no other alternative exists

alternatives (expanded)

There are multiple effective substitutes to cosmetic animal testing. In-vitro uses human cell cultures and tissue to assess product safety. Computer modeling replicates human biological responses using algorithms. Human volunteer studies, such as microdosing and patch testing, allow researchers to evaluate cosmetic safety directly on individuals

Do companies support this? 

Many major cosmetic brands already support bans and don’t test on animals, including well known brands like Dove and elf. Our nonprofit is also in contact with jessyka shaw and the body shop and they support our message and would likely show support for this Bill

Why should Texas care?

This Bill would position Texas as a state that takes ethical science and innovation seriously while protecting consumers and modernizing outdated laws. 

Is this anti-science?

This bill promotes better science that reflects human biology instead of outdated methods

What are you asking me to do?

We’re asking for your support in advancing this type of legislation in Texas and guidance on how best to refine and introduce it

alternatives in comparison to animal testing

Human cell testing (organ-on-a-chip and in-vitro): human tissue rather than a substitute from an animal, takes a few weeks rather than months, lower long-term costs; computer models: higher prediction accuracy because it takes into consideration multiple biological scales, takes less than a week, low software costs; lab-grown tissue: accurate for testing effects on specific organs, takes days or weeks, lower costs than long animal testing