San Antonio – The San Antonio City Council is poised for a hot debate on a resolution supporting abortion access Tuesday afternoon.
The proposed resolution, which will be discussed at a 1 p.m. special meeting of the City Council, would not legalize abortion in San Antonio, but would indicate support for women seeking the procedure. It would also make a policy recommendation not to use city funds -- outside of what is “clearly required” by state and federal law -- to catalog, collect or share with other government agencies information on instances of abortion strictly to pursue criminal investigations.
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While a majority of the City Council already turned out to show support when the resolution, spearheaded by District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo, was unveiled last week, more than 70 people had already signed up to speak on the item by 11 a.m. Tuesday morning.
The draft language is similar to the “GRACE Act,” short for “Guarding the Right to Abortion Care for Everyone,” which the Austin City Council passed on July 21. But whereas Austin’s resolution also included a policy specifically stating investigations into abortions would be “the lowest priority for enforcement,” the San Antonio resolution does not have that language.
The Texas Tribune reports that Texas’s “trigger law” banning almost all abortions will go into effect on Aug. 25. However, the procedure is already “virtually outlawed” by another state statute predating the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
San Antonio’s proposed resolution also includes a commitment to prioritize “reproductive rights” as part of the city’s legislative agenda in Austin.
The meeting will be streamed live here beginning at 1 p.m.