* * * LEGISLATIVE ALERT 9/20/20 * * *
STOP the Austin City Council’s Funding for Abortion Services
In 2019, the Austin City Council voted to spend $150,000 in taxes on “abortion services” to help women obtain abortions. Now the council is at it again by voting in August to spend $250,000 for the same purpose.
We ask everyone — regardless of whether you live in Austin — to email the Council and ask them to stop funding abortion services and to instead fund life-affirming agencies that provide alternatives to abortion, including adoption.
Sample Web Email Message
You can reach all 11 council members by web email here:
http://www.austintexas.gov/email/all-council-members
Dear Honorable Member of the Austin City Council:
I understand that the Austin City Council has voted to appropriate $250,000 in the Fiscal Year 2021 budget to fund “abortion services.” I disagree with that appropriation. I ask that you revoke that decision and rather fund alternatives to abortion.
The Greater Austin area has more than 20 agencies that provide compassionate alternatives to abortion, including assistance with childbirth and adoption. Surely Austinites who would give birth if they had adequate logistical and support services would appreciate the help from the City of Austin.
Sincerely,
Your name
Your address
Background
In 2019, the Texas Legislature passed and pro-life Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law SB 22, a bill to ban contracts between municipalities and abortion providers and their affiliates. That law, by State Sen. Donna Campbell (R-New Braunfels) and Rep. Candy Noble (R-Lucas), has been tremendously successful. The law caused Planned Parenthood to lose $1 million in contracts to the AISD and the Travis County Hospital District.
However, the City of Austin has found a way around that law. Instead of directly funding abortion providers, the Council voted to spend $250,000 in taxpayer dollars to organizations who are not abortion providers for “logistical and support services for Austin residents seeking abortion care.”
The grantee will be Jane’s Due Process — a pro-abortion organization devoted to promoting abortions for girls 17-years-old and younger without parental consent. Sub-grantees will be Fund Texas Choice and Mama Sana Vibrant Woman. Meanwhile, the City Council entirely neglects to fund local agencies that provide compassionate alternatives to abortion, including adoption. With more than a dozen life-affirming agencies located within the Austin City limits and at least 20 in the Greater Austin area, this is a missed opportunity to offer a true choice to pregnant women.
Here is a link to many of the resources: PregnancyCentralTexas.com
No woman should feel compelled to seek abortion because she is not aware of the many agencies that provide alternatives. Yet the Austin City Council is doing nothing to promote these options.
Please let us know you’ve contacted the Austin City Council.
Send comments to info@texasallianceforlife.org.
