AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Values, a conservative anti-abortion advocacy group, sued the City of Austin on Thursday over its use of taxpayer money to fund abortion access.
When city leaders approved the FY 2020-2021 budget on Aug. 13, they set aside $250,000 for "logistical and supportive services for Austinite seeking abortion care."
About $100,000 of the funds were diverted from the Austin Police Department's budget as part of the City's "reimagining plan." Austin Public Health is providing the remaining $150,000, just like it did in the FY 2019-2020 budget.
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The funds don't support the abortion procedure. Instead, they help provide transportation, child care, case management and other services.
The Thomas More Society, which filed the petition on behalf of Texas Values and several other taxpayers, said the funds from the City of Austin are illegal because they violate the state's abortion laws.
“The City of Austin is violating the law of Texas by using taxpayer money to aid and abet abortions, and the law of Texas continues to define this conduct as a criminal act,” Thomas More Society Special Counsel Erick Kaardal wrote in a statement. “The City cannot hide behind Roe v. Wade because there is no constitutional right to taxpayer funding of abortion, and the City must obey and respect the state’s abortion statutes until they are repealed by the legislature that enacted them.”
The plaintiffs are seeking a permanent injunction stopping the City from using taxpayer money to provide abortion access.
You can read the petition in full below:
A City of Austin spokesperson sent KVUE the following statement in response to the lawsuit: "We’re aware of the lawsuit but have not yet been served. We believe Council’s budget direction and the responsive funding proposals are consistent with state law requirements. The city has successfully defended against similar allegations in similar lawsuits and will continue to do so here.”
The FY 2020-2021 budget goes into effect on Oct. 1.
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