Texas lawsuit aims to restrict San Antonio Abortion Fund
San Antonio City Council had budgeted $500,000 to support reproductive health services
A collection of antiabortion groups filed a lawsuit in Texas that challenges the San Antonio City Council’s allocation of money to a reproductive health service fund.
According to the Texas Tribune, the city budgeted $500,000 to support reproductive health services, including, potentially, transportation and lodging for people seeking abortions outside Texas.
The Tribune reported this court filing is the latest front in an ongoing war between abortion funds and anti-abortion groups led by conservative attorney Jonathan Mitchell. Mitchell, who filed Tuesday’s suit, is best known as the architect of Texas’ ban on most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy.
The lawsuit aims to enjoin the city from using taxpayer money to pay for abortion expenses. It asks that the court declare that the city’s “Reproductive Justice Fund” may not be used to provide cash to any organization in Texas that “procures” drug-induced abortions, including Jane’s Due Process, Avow, the Buckle Bunnies Fund and the Lilith Fund for Reproductive Equity, regardless of the intended use of the funding.
The wording of the lawsuit is often inflammatory as it says anyone who aids or abets abortion is guilty of murder.
Much like the jurisdictional conflicts in Alabama, antiabortion activists in Texas want to punish people for helping a woman get an abortion out of state. The lawsuit states that “every abortion fund or abortion assistance organization that aids or abets drug-induced abortions in which the pregnant woman completes the abortion process in Texas is a criminal organization, even if an out-of-state abortion provider dispenses the drugs.”
The lawsuit is here.
