Garcia: Prop A debate hinges on the issue of officer discretion- San Antonio Express News

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By: GILBERT GARCIA

Let’s put aside, for a moment, the fact that most of Prop A is likely to be disregarded by our municipal government if it passes, because City Attorney Andy Segovia says the justice-director provision is the only piece of it that doesn’t violate state law.

Let’s also put aside, for a moment, the fact that if Prop A passes, its abortion-decriminalization provision will be challenged in court by Texas Alliance for Life, an Austin-based anti-abortion group.

Let’s pretend that voters approve Prop A and the city actually implements it. What would that mean for San Antonians? In truth, much would remain the same.

No one is currently getting arrested in this city for providing or receiving an abortion. That wouldn’t change.

Texas Supreme Court rejects anti-abortion group’s Justice Charter challenge | San Antonio Express News

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By: Molly Smith

“This precedent invites municipalities to disregard well-established election laws regarding charter amendments, protections for unborn babies, and numerous other issues, an unintended but foreseeable consequence,” Texas Alliance for Life spokesperson Amy O’Donnell said in a written statement.

If approved, the Justice Charter, which will appear on the ballot as Proposition A, would amend the city charter to bar police from investigating or making arrests for abortion-related crimes and misdemeanor marijuana possession. It would also expand the city’s cite-and-release program, ban police from using chokeholds and no-knock warrants, and create a city justice director to oversee these policy changes.

City Attorney Andy Segovia, however, maintains that San Antonio could only enforce the justice director provision, calling the others “inconsistent” with state law.

Why anti-abortion opponents could sink San Antonio’s police reform amendment | San Antonio Express News

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By: Molly Smith

Texas Alliance for Life immediately took the matter to the Texas Supreme Court. The group has a powerful ally in Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is urging the court to side with them.

It’s a large departure from the scrutiny given to marijuana decriminalization measures passed in other Texas cities, none of which are anywhere close to landing in front of a state court. These measures have proved popular, passing by as much as 85 percent.

“On the abortion question, this is a direct frontal assault to a primary political objective that Republicans have laid out,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston. “It is as bold a political strategy to confront a Republican, conservative policy on abortion as we’ve seen.”

On ExpressNews.com: Anti-abortion group wants to weed out this measure in San Antonio’s Justice Charter amendment

The Justice Charter, also known as Proposition A, is the first citizen-led ballot measure in Texas to attempt to safeguard abortion providers since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down federal abortion protections last summer. It will be a test of the lengths the state’s powerful anti-abortion movement — and possibly Republican lawmakers — will go to prevent cities from making their own rules about abortion.

Celebrating ‘unmitigated victory’: Anti-abortion march takes to San Antonio streets | San Antonio Express-News

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By: Ricardo Delgado

Starting in the city’s Main Plaza, a dozen children holding a white banner reading “March for Life” formed the vanguard, leading the march to the Alamo Plaza and then back for a rally at Main Plaza.

Dr. Joe Pojman, founder and executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life, described the overturning of Roe v. Wade as an “unmitigated victory.”

“We need to still educate people about three main things: The unborn child’s a baby; abortion hurts, not helps women; and Texas provides vast resources for women with unplanned pregnancies.”

The 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and the decision overturning it, is being marked by both sides in the abortion debate, locally and on the national level.

Bexar County DA weighs in on abortion rights as protests erupt over Roe vs. Wade | San Antonio Express News

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By: Jacob Beltran , Guillermo Contreras , Staff writers

Amy O’Donnell, spokeswoman for Texas Alliance for Life, said Texas law does not allow for the prosecution of women who seek an abortion. Her organization also does not support prosecuting women who seek an abortion, she said.

However, if he’s saying he wouldn’t prosecute doctors who perform abortion, then we think it is highly improper for the DA to categorically fail to prosecute an entire class of offenses in that case,” O’Donnell said.

In last year’s legislative session, lawmakers passed a bill that would outlaw abortion in Texas 30 days after any potential U.S. Supreme Court decision overturns Roe v. Wade. The so-called “trigger bill,” signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott, would leave Texas doctors facing up to life in prison or $100,000 fines if they perform abortions, under the ban.

Texas anti-abortion bills would protect abnormal fetuses, slash Planned Parenthood funding | San Antonio Express News

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By: Andrea Zelinski

“We are not convinced there are enough votes on the Supreme Court at the moment to repeal Roe v. Wade or even scale back Roe v. Wade,” said Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, referring to the landmark ruling that originated in Texas that found women have a constitutional right to the procedure.

He’s urging the Legislature to pass less sweeping bills, such as banning cities, counties and other municipalities from doing business with abortion providers like Planned Parenthood and their affiliates.

Pojman said he is not advising lawmakers to pass a bill to ban abortions of fetuses with diagnosed abnormalities after 20 weeks gestation because he does not believe it could survive a court challenge.