CV NEWS FEED // Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the city of San Antonio April 4 for unlawfully using taxpayer dollars to pay for women’s out-of-state travel to obtain abortions.
According to a news release from Paxton’s office, San Antonio established a “Reproductive Justice Fund” consisting of $100,000 to transport pregnant women out of state to get around Texas’ pro-life legislation. However, the city’s actions violate the Texas Constitution’s Gift Clause, which requires that public funds may only be used by private entities if the expense benefits the public, Jurist reported.
“The City of San Antonio is blatantly defying Texas law by using taxpayer dollars to fund abortion tourism,” Paxton, a Republican, stated. “Beyond being an egregious misuse of public funds, it’s an attack on the pro-life values of our state. I will not stand by while rogue cities use tax dollars to circumvent state law and take the innocent lives of unborn children.”
According to Jurist, advocates for the program argue that it serves a larger purpose than providing out-of-state abortions for women. Ariana Rodriguez, the youth advocacy and community engagement manager for the group Jane’s Due Process, reportedly stated that the program will “allow people to get the health care that they need and want, regardless if that’s abortion care, Plan B, STI testing… There’s so many things that this is going to help fund.”
Paxton’s suit asks the court to rule that San Antonio has violated the gift clause, as well as issue temporary and permanent injunctions that will protect public funds from being spent on abortions.
Paxton filed a similar suit in September 2024 against the city of Austin for seeking to use $400,000 in public funding for an abortion tourism program. The attorney general has also worked to enforce other pro-life laws. Some of his most recent efforts include the filing of a lawsuit against a New York physician for mailing abortion pills to a Texas resident and the arrest of a midwife for illegally performing abortions and operating clinics without a license.
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