Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced last week that he is suing the City of Austin after the city allocated $400,000 in an abortion travel fund to help its residents kill their preborn children out of state. Texas law currently protects nearly all preborn children from abortion.
The city’s recently approved budget included the money in a Reproductive Health Grant, which would “support Austinites traveling to access abortion . . . including support for airfare, gas reimbursements, hotel stays, ride reimbursements, childcare stipends, companion travel, and food.” Paxton said this allocation is unconstitutional.
🚨 NEW: I’m suing the City of Austin for illegally appropriating taxpayer funds to pay for out of state abortion travel cost. No city in Texas has the authority to spend taxpayer money in this manner. In this case, the City of Austin is illegally seeking to use public funding to… https://t.co/lfW1ScsBTi
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) September 27, 2024
“No city in Texas has the authority to spend taxpayer money in this manner. In this case, the City of Austin is illegally seeking to use public funding to support travel expenses for out-of-state abortions,” he said in a statement. “The Texas Constitution prohibits governmental entities from doing so.”
Paxton’s announcement comes several weeks after one of the city’s former Council Members filed a lawsuit against the city on his own. In that suit, Don Zimmerman said it was illegal for the city to “spend taxpayer dollars on abortion-assistance activities.” The suit also maintained that the city violated the state’s gift clause, which prohibits cities from giving money to private individuals unless there is a public purpose.
READ: Study reconfirms that nearly all abortions in the US are still for ‘elective’ reasons
Following Paxton’s announcement, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson blasted the lawsuit on social media.
“Ken Paxton is once again exploiting the great power of his office to attack and undermine the fundamental rights of women and try to score a few political points in the process,” Watson said. “I’m proud the Austin City Council is supporting Austin women as they make their own decisions about their body, their family, their health, their happiness, and their quality of life. I stood up and fought for reproductive rights throughout my time in office, including in the Texas Senate, and I will not back down in City Hall.”
