Austin City Council Approves Abortion Care Travel (Despite Lawsuit)
Austin’s city council just put its money where its mouth is, voting to move forward with funding travel costs for out-of-state abortion care — despite a lawsuit claiming the move violates state law.
In mid-August, the city first approved $400,000 to help Austinites with travel costs to states where abortion is still legal. The funds were allocated to the city’s Reproductive Health Grant, according to KXAN, and would help pay for things like travel, housing, childcare stipends and food. “We are fully invested and interested in ensuring that women have the broad spectrum of reproductive health care available as a fundamental right,” Austin Council Member Vanessa Fuentes told the NBC affiliate. To that end, the city says it has started looking for a nonprofit partner to help support Austinites who need money for reproductive healthcare travel.
The related lawsuit, filed by former Austin City Council Member Republican Don Zimmerman, claimed any use of taxpayer money inside Texas to get an abortion violates state law — even if the abortion happens out of state.
The City of San Antonio faced a similar lawsuit, which attempted to block their Reproductive Justice Fund. A judge tossed out that suit in April. In June, the city started the process of accepting bids for its $500,000 fund.
Since 2022, when Texas’s trigger law went into effect banning abortions, more than 35,000 Texans have traveled out of state to get care. Axios reports most people went to New Mexico, followed by Kansas, Colorado, and then California.
