A member of the Austin City Council wants to weaken enforcement of the restrictive Texas abortion law – at least in his city, Politico reported.
says he is proposing a resolution directing city police to make enforcement of the state law its lowest priority and to prevent city funds from being used to investigate suspected abortions.
“This is not an academic conversation. This is a very real conversation where people’s lives could be destroyed by these criminal prosecutions,” Vela told Politico. “In Texas, you’re an adult at 17. We are looking at the prospect of a 17-year-old girl who has an unplanned pregnancy and is seeking an abortion [being] subjected to first-degree felony charges — up to 99 years in jail — and that’s just absolutely unacceptable.
The new resolution doesn’t decriminalize abortion but is an effort to skirt conflict with state law, Vela said. State Attorney General Ken Paxton could not be reached for comment, Politico said. It’s unknown if other members of the city council support Vela’s plan. The city government recently took steps to ban employment and housing discrimination on the basis of reproductive health decisions, including abortion,The Texas law that went into effect Sept. 1 prohibits abortions if a fetal heartbeat can be detected, typically after 6 weeks. It’s one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation and has been the model for other conservative states’ abortion laws.
Last month, a leaked draft opinion from the Supreme Court said a majority of justices think the landmark Roe v. Wade decision should be reversed. If that happens, the decision about whether to allow abortion would be left up to the individual states.
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