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Six San Antonio council members, including Mayor Ron Nirenberg, voiced support for the city's Reproductive Justice Fund on Wednesday.
District 8 Councilman Manny Pelaez and District 9 Councilman John Courage — the only two members of council to officially declare runs for the city's top elected office — said they back the fund but not if it spends taxpayer money on travel to skirt Texas' ban on nearly all abortions.
That put the pair in the same corner as District 10's Marc Whyte, council's most conservative member, during a B Session debate on how use the $500,000 fund.
Council voted last fall to create the fund as part of the city's $3.7 billion budget, saying it's needed to bolster nonprofits offering reproductive care. Some proponents also said the money should cover transportation costs for SA residents seeking abortions in states where the procedure is still legal.
During Wednesday's deliberations, six council members, including Mayor Ron Nirenberg, expressed support for covering abortion-related travel expenses. District 2's Jalen McKee-Rodriguez even called out pro-life protesters at the meeting who carried signs that said "Equity begins and ends in the womb."
"I hope your hands get tired," McKee-Rodriguez said from the dais. "It's funny, and I have to say hilarious, that lives don't seem to matter after they're born, especially when they're immigrants, when they're LGBTQ+, when they're Black or brown or poor. God forbid somebody be on food stamps."
During a post-meeting press conference joined by anti-abortion activists, Whyte said he'll continue to fight the Reproductive Justice Fund being used for abortion-related expenses.
Council is expected to vote this fall on final guidelines for use of the funds.
"Today really was about what is and what is not a proper use of city money," Whyte said. "And to tell the citizens of San Antonio that we're going to use their dollars to send folks out of this state to receive abortions is simply wrong."
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