Texas Governor Greg Abbott is preparing to sign a bill that would prohibit state and local government from partnering with abortion providers in the state for any services. The ban includes anything of value derived from state or local tax revenue.
Related: Fears About Roe v. Wade’s Future Erupt on the Left as Alabama All But Bans Abortion
One of this session’s biggest anti-abortion bills, which would ban state and local governments from partnering with agencies that perform abortions even if they contract for services not related to the procedure, is headed to the governor’s desk.
The Senate chamber agreed Friday with a change to Senate Bill 22 made in the House chamber. The bill would prohibit the transfer of money to an abortion provider — but it would also bar the transfer of goods, services or anything that offers the provider “something of value derived from state or local tax revenue.” Abortion opponents worry that any money directed to abortion providers could be used to promote the organization in other important ways like to finance advertisements or open a new clinic. They criticized Planned Parenthood’s $1-per-year rental agreement with the city for its East Austin clinic, which they’ve railed against as an unfair “sweetheart rent deal.”
The sweetheart rent deal falls under the prohibition against anything of value. So Austin could not offer rent space for $1.00/year to Planned Parenthood (PP).
Opponents of abortion without taxpayer support are whining up a storm, naturally, about services, access, and women’s healthcare. But I offer them the same answer as always. If women’s health care is that important to Planned Parenthood they can pay for these things with their grotesque lobbying budgets. And it would send a message.
That this profitable, private global organization care more about “women’s health” than it does about killing babies.
Note: There’s also no reason not to consider executive pay cuts and asking the big dollar progressive donors to fund “women’s health care” instead of PP’s abortion politics.
