With controversy raging over abortion restrictions in Texas, elected officials representing the City of Austin and Travis County have expressed their support for abortion rights.
A resolution adopted by Austin City Council “affirms Austin’s commitment to reproductive choice and commits legal support to challenge the law in court,” said Austin Council member Paige Ellis, KXAN reported.
It also approves using staff resources to help fight the new abortion law, the Texas Heartbeat Act, which bans abortion which bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, usually around six weeks of pregnancy.
“This item reaffirms the City of Austin’s long-standing commitment to abortion access and allocates staff resources within the city’s law department to investigate and pursue appropriate legal support of current effort to challenge this extreme and arcane law,” Ellis said.
She was joined by Austin Mayor Steve Adler, Travis County Judge Andy Brown and Austin City Council members Natasha Harper-Madison and Greg Casar in a news conference at City Hall.
The resolution, sponsored by Ellis, would direct City Manager Spencer Cronk to support the ongoing lawsuits challenging Texas’s new controversial abortion law.
The city will file friend-of-the-court briefs in court cases challenging the law, Ellis said.
The city will also partner with nonprofits to help low-income women with child care expenses if they have cross state lines to have an abortion, Casar said.
“We actually are working with private donors (as well) to support with our own dollars to make sure women have the support they need,” the councilman said.
But Kimberlyn Schwartz with Texas Right to Life said the City of Austin shouldn’t oppose the state law.
“Ultimately, all of this is a waste of taxpayer resources and a foolish attempt to try to circumvent the will of Texans to support the Texas heartbeat bill,” Schwartz told KXAN.
Last week, a federal judge placed a temporary injunction against the law, but two days later the law was reinstated by a federal appeals court.
