While some Texas cities are voting to protect unborn babies’ lives, another is providing money to help destroy them.
On Tuesday, the Austin City Council voted to spend $150,000 taxpayer dollars to help Austin women get abortions, KADN News reports. It is believed to be the first city to fund abortions indirectly by giving pro-abortion groups money to provide transportation, child care, lodging and other services to low-income women seeking abortions.
The council members who claim to be “pro-choice” did not talk about providing choices and support to pregnant women in need. They emphasized more abortions – more destruction of unborn babies’ lives.
“Every day the anti-abortion elements in Texas, in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere, wake up and think, ‘How can we restrict access to abortion today.’ That makes it our job, every day, to work to expand access to abortion and health care and other basic services related to abortion,” Austin City Council member Greg Casar told NBC News.
Councilwoman Leslie Pool, who sponsored the pro-abortion measure, even likened the promotion of abortions to moral “values.”
“Here we are at Austin City Hall, a mile away from the state capitol, and yet we couldn’t be farther apart on our values when it comes to expanding access to the full range of reproductive healthcare, including abortion,” Pool said, WOAI News Radio reports. “It’s a shame that as the years go by, more restrictive laws go into place, chipping away at Roe v. Wade and women in our community have less access to abortion care. This proposal will make sure that Austinites who need an abortion can access that care.”
The city likely will help fund late-term abortions on viable unborn babies. According to KADN, if an Austin woman wants a late-term abortion, which is illegal in Texas, the money could help her travel to another state where they are legal.
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Nicole Hudgins, with the pro-life group Texas Values, slammed the council for prioritizing abortions.
“It is appalling the city of Austin doubled-down on its policies to ‘save the trees, kill the children,’” she said, WOAI reports. “This budget amendment is a political stunt attempting to circumvent the law. If the city really wants to help women, they should lower their taxes and stop killing innocent children.”
Earlier this year, the Texas legislature passed a law to ensure that no taxpayer funding directly or indirectly pays for unborn babies’ abortion deaths in Texas. Signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in June, the law prohibits local governments from funding or contracting with abortion providers and their affiliates.
The Austin City Council’s vote appears to be a clear attempt to skirt the law. State Sen. Donna Campbell, who sponsored the pro-life law, previously said she planned to investigate if the measure violates the law.
The pro-abortion groups lobbying for the funds include NARAL Texas and the Lilith Fund for Reproductive Equality. They argued that the budget measure does not violate the new law because the funding would not go to groups that provide abortions, only ones that help women get them, according to the report.
Texas Right to Life said the council members crafted the policy just to thumb their noses at pro-lifers who are working to protect unborn babies from abortion.
“This grotesque news is another example of the abortion industry exploiting taxpayers to profit off vulnerable women and kill preborn children,” the pro-life group said in a statement.
ACTION: Contact the Austin City Council to complain about the decision.
