Closing a loophole

Cities in Texas are no longer allowed to help women travel out of state for abortion, under a bill that took effect Sept. 1. The legislation, which Gov. Greg Abbott ceremonially signed in August, bars local municipalities and counties from paying for hotels, food, plane tickets, and other travel expenses for women who leave the state to kill their unborn babies.

The bill was the latest salvo in a battle between pro-life state leaders and left-leaning city officials. Ever since 2022’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization returned the abortion issue to the states, abortion advocates—including city council members—have looked for ways to skirt state laws in places like Texas, which protects unborn babies in nearly all circumstances.

Lawmakers in the Texas Legislature passed the so-called Stop Tax-Funded Abortion Travel Act in May. The move came after abortion-backing efforts by city council members in both San Antonio and Austin.

Austin in August 2024 passed a resolution to allocate $400,000 for city residents to travel out of state for abortions. Former City Council Member Don Zimmerman and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton both sued the city over the move, saying it violated state laws.

Meanwhile, San Antonio officials last November approved the $500,000 Reproductive Justice Fund. While part of the fund was expected to pay for public education, contraceptive access, and sexually transmitted disease testing, lawmakers also planned to pay for abortion travel for residents. The city in April voted to allocate money from the fund for abortion-related expenses. Paxton also sued San Antonio, and a state appeals court sided with him in June, ruling the city must stop implementing the program as the lawsuit continued through the courts. The city is still fighting the ruling.

Abortion funds and providers across the country have offered to finance women’s trips out of pro-life states to have abortions. In 2022, the city of Atlanta approved a plan to donate $300,000 to an abortion travel fund called Access Reproductive Care Southeast. Georgia protects unborn babies after their heartbeats are detected on an ultrasound, usually around six weeks of pregnancy.

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South Carolina vs. abortion giant

Planned Parenthood South Atlantic is still fighting South Carolina in federal court in an effort to keep its Medicaid funding. The abortion provider on Aug. 21 filed an amended complaint challenging Republican Gov. Henry McMaster’s 2018 executive order blocking Medicaid reimbursements to organizations that provide abortions. In its new filing, Planned Parenthood argues the executive order violates the 14th Amendment because it unfairly targets the organization.

The legal action comes after the U.S. Supreme Court this summer upheld the state’s authority to remove Planned Parenthood from its list of Medicaid providers. McMaster spokesman Brandon Charochak called the amended lawsuit a “desperate, last-gasp attempt to relitigate an issue that has already been decided.” —L.C.