The Dallas City Council has approved a resolution expressing support for abortion in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
The largely meaningless resolution was meant to both acknowledge the anniversary of Roe and call on federal lawmakers to do more to protect abortion. Copies will be sent to Governor Greg Abbott and other state lawmakers.
“The City of Dallas seeks to ensure abortion is there for everyone who needs it by supporting and advancing the Action Plan for Abortion Justice which would ensure abortion care is available without hurdles or stigma for people of color working to make ends meet, young people, LGBTQ+ and non-binary people,” the resolution read, continuing, “affordable and accessible for immigrants of any documentation status without fear of deportation, detention, or harm to their own or their family’s immigration process; available in the communities where we live; provided in ways that are comfortable, secure, and make sense for patients; and affordable and covered by all public and private health insurance plans.”
The measure also gave credit to another resolution, passed in August of 2022, which deprioritized police investigations of abortion-related crimes.
Introduced by council member Adam Bazaldua, the resolution passed in a 10-1 vote. “It’s never a moment to celebrate when you have rights as a free American that are being stripped away from you,” Bazaldua said, according to KERA News. “We’ve got to look at ways to restore these rights.”
Adam McGough was the only person to vote against the resolution, which he said didn’t make sense, and he supports the laws protecting preborn children in Texas. “It’s poorly written. It’s poorly drafted. It deals with items we can’t do anything about,” he said. “And now we’re saying we need to send this to the governor as the position of the city.”
Another council member, Cara Mendelsohn, wasn’t present for the vote, but said later that she disapproved of it also. “What we see here is political theater at its worst,” she said. “In a very real way this item is sabotaging our state legislative agenda. The resolution is meant to specifically thumb our nose at the very legislators we are asking for help to solve some of our most pressing city issues with dollars and policy changes.”
