AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott would not sign a measure to make it easier for women to bring pay discrimination lawsuits in state court, a spokesman said Wednesday in an apparent effort to get past an issue that has dogged the campaign for weeks.

Abbott, the state’s current attorney general, previously refused to take a position on the proposed law known as the Lilly Ledbetter Act, which extends the statute of limitations for bringing lawsuits when an employer paid a person less because of their gender, race or religion.