According to the Lufkin Daily News, a Texas governor signed into law the Restroom Access Act. Effective September 1, 2007, the new law allows customers with certain medical conditions the use of store and business restrooms, including those previously reserved for employees only. The only stipulation is that the law does exclude restaurants and stores with fewer than three employees on duty at any one time.

The law was intended to help alleviate the burden of people with Crohn's disease, ulterative colitis, or any number of other gastrointestinal disorders. To help prevent abuse of this new law, customers with such disorders must present a doctor's note to the store employee to prove the presence of a medical condition that warrants immediate use of the restroom.

A store refusing a legitimate request by someone who has proof of his or her medical condition can be issued a misdemeanor citation that could carry up to a $100 fine.

According to reports, the majority of stores made it clear they had no objections to the new law.

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