AUSTIN, TX — In passing its budget this week, Austin distinguished itself among Texas cities in earmarking funds to protect and expand access to abortion in a state led by conservatives who have made it harder for women to access such services.
The Austin city budget that passed on Tuesday includes $150,000 for practical support for abortion access. In setting aside such funds, Austin becomes the first city in the U.S. to fund transportation, child care, doula, and case management support for people seeking such access.
The council’s action comes on the heels of passage of Senate Bill 22, which bans local governments from providing money to groups that provide abortions. Conservative lawmakers in Texas have long railed against abortion rights — unabashedly lacing social media commentary with theology —while dissuading the procedure from their ironclad bully pulpit. In the past, conservatives have sought to require cremation or burial of fetal remains — a financially prohibitive measure for many — that advocates perceive as nothing more than a deterrent against seeking abortions. A fetal heartbeat bill failed earlier this year after not gaining approval by midnight.
On Thursday, city officials and advocates organized a telephone conference with members of the media to detail the action. City council members Delia Garza (District 2), Leslie Pool (District 7), Greg Casar (District 4) and Paige Ellis (District 8) were on the call that was suffused with a celebratory vibe over the budget amendment.
“I know there’s been talk about whether this is in response to SB 22, but I want to make it clear: I don’t make decisions based on what the Legislature wants, I make decisions based on what our community needs,” Garza, who serves as mayor pro tem, said. “Abortion access is an equity issue, and because my Southeast Austin district is majority-Latino and lower-income than the rest of the city on average, this is an issue that directly affects them. Help defraying some of the additional costs people incur as a result of restrictions on abortion access is the kind of help that will make a real, tangible difference in lives of many of my constituents.”
“Abortion is legal, just not easily available,” added Ellis, referencing the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 ensuring the constitutionality of the procedure. “You will never be able to legislate away the need for abortion as so many states have tried to do,” she said as if addressing the conservative-led Legislature directly. “Every person in our community deserves access to the full range of reproductive healthcare, including abortion. As the state continues its harmful agenda chipping away at our constitutional rights, we re-commit ourselves to protecting and expanding access to abortion care for people in our community. This practical support funding will ensure transportation, lodging, childcare, and doula and emotional support are not barriers for Austinites needing abortion care.”
Pool noted the ideological divide that exists between the state Capitol and Austin City Hall despite geographic proximity: “Here we are at Austin City Hall, a mile away from the state Capitol, and yet we couldn’t be farther apart on our values when it comes to expanding access to the full range of reproductive healthcare, including abortion. It’s a shame that as the years go by, more restrictive laws go into place, chipping away at Roe v. Wade and women in our community have less access to abortion care.”
Casar was the only man in attendance during the conference call in a room filled with 14 women, prompting Garza to joke how he now feels what it’s like to be a woman in a corporate board room. Known for his progressive ideology on a number of issues, Casar expressed hope the Austin council’s action this week will inspire emulation at other communities.
“In the Trump era, our progressive cities are not only sites of resistance, but also places of progress,” the councilman said. The Austin City Council’s abortion access funding sets an example of what governance could look like if progressives ran more of our states. Communities can see what we’re fighting for—not just what we’re fighting against. And what we’re fighting for is access to basic services and health care (like abortion care), access to economic opportunity, and access to a democracy that works for everyday people.”
Also on the call were abortion rights advocates who helped propel the budget amendment. Among them was Lilith Fund Executive Director Amanda B. Williams who furthered the sense of celebration that characterized the conference call.
“We are thrilled to be celebrating real progress for abortion access in Texas,” she said. “For this victory to occur in one of the most hostile states towards abortion access in the country is proof that change is possible and that local proactive strategies should never be ignored.”
Sarah Lopez, program coordinator for Fund Texas Choice, echoed the sentiment while acknowledging the collaborative nature of the accomplishment: “I’m proud of the leadership of our partner organizations and Austin City Council members for making Austin the first city in the nation to provide practical support funding for residents seeking an abortion. I hope that this monumental achievement can set an example for the rest of Texas, and show the rest of the country that we are a state that values a person’s right to safe and legal abortion no matter how hard legislators are fighting against us.”
NARAL Pro-Choice Texas Executive Director Aimee Arrambide provided some historical context in her comments: “Over the past two decades, the anti-abortion extremists in the Texas Legislature have done their best to chip away at the right to an abortion care. Texas has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation, and as a result, access has become virtually impossible, especially for the most marginalized. Those who don’t have the resources to navigate these barriers, forgo care altogether. The right to an abortion is meaningless if it is not accessible. I’m proud to live in a city that is committed to equity and ensuring every Austinite has access to abortion.”
The council move advances the city’s status as a blue dot in a red sea, a municipality with a progressive agenda amid a largely conservative state. The backlash to the city council’s move in providing access to birth control services short of funding abortion providers generated predictable backlash from conservatives — including a hastily filed lawsuit by a former council member.
Don Zimmerman quickly filed a lawsuit in district court on Wednesday that challenges the city’s efforts to fund logistical services for low-income women seeking abortions. In his litigation, the conservative former council member wrote “…this expenditure of taxpayer money violates the state’s abortion laws and should be promptly enjoined.”
Asked about the litigation, Casar urged reporters to study its premise carefully: “I encourage anybody reporting on the lawsuit to actually look at the lawsuit,” he said, saying Zimmerman’s arguments against the city measure is based on pre-Roe v. Wade law. “I didn’t know if I was reading a lawsuit or if it was a satire piece in The Onion. The lawsuit reads like Zimmerman just stepped out of a misogynist time machine, and he doesn’t realize that things like abortion, interracial marriage, and birth control are suddenly all legal now.”
Zimmerman represented District 6 on the Austin City Council from 2015-17 before being voted out of office. During his brief tenure, he used his position on the dais to espouse conservative platforms — sometimes on even the most inconsequential measures — in prefacing his official dissenting vote on matters before the body he deemed overly progressive.
Another conservative, state Rep. Briscoe Cain, went so far as to suggest on Twitter that Austin should be reconfigured as a capital district not unlike Washington D.C., enabling residents to retain their state legislative districts while falling under oversight by the Texas Legislature.
Patch asked council members if they were ready for potential conservative retaliation to the move given the Legislature’s penchant to craft laws meant to supersede progressive statutes from the local body now absent any conservative representation. Gov. Greg Abbott once stripped funding to local agencies given his perception the city was too lenient on weeding out undocumented residents given his strident anti-immigration stance.
Republican lawmakers also wrote state legislation nullifying council’s past efforts to require drivers of ride-share companies to submit to fingerprint checks as part of longstanding local policy, a move that led to the exodus of Uber and Lyft from the lucrative local market before their return once the overriding state law was passed. In another landmark move, council previously passed an ordinance requiring employers to provide paid sick leave to their workers, but enactment of those rules were halted as the matter is now mired in litigation filed by conservative detractors.
“We feel like we are entirely on strong ground, and I welcome a challenge if there will be one,” Pool said in response to the likelihood for efforts to stymie the new action. “And it will show we are in good shape.”
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