Austin, Texas - Texas' Republican Governor Greg Abbott has signed into law a bill to severely restrict transgender and intersex people from accessing bathrooms and other facilities that correspond with their gender identity.

Abbott announced on Monday that he had signed SB 8, legislation to ban transgender and intersex people from using restrooms, locker rooms, and changing facilities in government-owned buildings, including public schools and universities.

The law – set to take effect on December 4 – also prohibits family violence shelters from providing services to transgender people, unless they are under the age of 18 and the child of a woman receiving care at the center.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice is further required to "ensure inmates are housed in a correctional facility, including a dormitory or cellblock of a correctional facility, according to the inmate's sex."

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A political subdivision or state agency found to have acted against the law may be fined up to $25,000 for the first violation, and up to $125,000 for any subsequent violation.

After the legislation passed out of the state House in August, the ACLU of Texas called it "unconscionable and unconstitutional."

"This law puts anyone at risk who doesn’t seem masculine or feminine enough to a random stranger, including the cisgender girls and women this bill purports to protect. Some people might forgo using public restrooms entirely out of fear for their safety, even if it endangers their health," warned Ash Hall, the organization's policy and advocacy strategist on LGBTQIA+ rights.

"This bill is bad for trans and intersex people, bad for cisgender people, bad for business, bad for public health and safety, and bad for Texas. Transgender people have always been here and always will be," they added.