Earlier this week, Act 4 SA and several other abortion-friendly organizations submitted a petition with more than 35,000 signatures to add a question to the municipal elections ballot in May to end the criminalization of abortion crimes, which would contradict Texas state law.
Texas currently prohibits abortion entirely, with the rare exception of cases in which the mother has a life-threatening medical emergency. Since Texas’ abortion ban went into effect following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June of last year, pro-abortion activists have been fighting to restore the “right” for a mother to murder her unborn child, parroting the inane slogans “my body, my choice” and “keep your laws off my body.”
Prior to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, some cities in Texas successfully outlawed abortion in their jurisdictions, earning the label of “Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn.” However, other cities have expressed vehement opposition to the state’s abortion law and have looked for ways to get around it. District attorneys in Travis, Dallas, Bexar, Nueces, and Fort Bend counties have announced their disagreement with Texas’ abortion law and refuse to prosecute abortion crimes within their jurisdictions.
Now, San Antonio city leaders want to prohibit their police force from enforcing abortion law.
The coalition of organizations that created the “San Antonio Justice Charter” was led by Ground Game Texas and Act 4 SA, but it also includes over a dozen others such as Texas Organizing Project (TOP), Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL SATX), SA Stands, and MOVE Texas.
The petition would prevent San Antonio police from doing their jobs in other ways, as well.
“The San Antonio Justice Charter will amend the City Charter of San Antonio to adopt a justice policy that will reduce unnecessary arrests, mitigate racial bias, and save scarce public resources through a comprehensive set of popular reforms, including ending enforcement of low-level marijuana possession, ending enforcement of abortion ‘crimes,’ banning no-knock police warrants, banning police chokeholds, and prioritizing citations instead of arrests for low-level nonviolent crimes.”
“[Currently], police are still actually allowed to make arrests or conduct investigations for so-called abortion crimes,” said the co-founder of Ground Game Texas, Mike Siegel. “But if the voters approve our justice charter, police will be banned from taking any enforcement action.”
The coalition’s attempt to undermine state law through the petition could pave the way for other left-leaning Texas cities to prevent police from prosecuting crimes, including those of abortion.
Chelsey Youman, the Texas state director at Human Coalition Action, told Texas Scorecard, “This vigilante resolution undermines the authority of the state to protect vulnerable children in the womb and prevents law enforcement from doing their job. The abortion industry is rife with abuses, including documented failures to report suspected cases of statutory rape and human trafficking. Prohibiting criminal investigations for abortions could allow these horrific abuses to fester in San Antonio.”
“These activists think they would be able to create an underground abortion network with this act,” Youman continued, “but abortion is a felony in Texas, and those who aid and abet it can be held liable under the Texas Heartbeat Act. Abortion activists in San Antonio should take note.”
While the coalition has more than 35,000 signatures on their petition, only 18,000 have been verified and 20,000 verified signatures are needed to get the justice charter on the ballot. The city clerk’s office has until February 8 to verify the remaining signatures needed.
