The San Antonio Reproductive Justice Fund, renamed the Women’s Health Fund, secured enough votes to make it into the San Antonio’s fiscal 2027-2028 budget, which City Council approved Thursday.
The fund secured an overall reinvestment of $1 million, which local advocates are celebrating as a victory for women’s health.
“The people of San Antonio and our families are facing challenges when it comes to accessing reproductive health and services, especially in Texas,” said Erika Galindo, organizing program manager for Lilith Fund for Reproductive Equity, in an Instagram post celebrating the news. “The reinvestment of the reproductive justice fund shows that our city leaders understand the enormity of those challenges.”
The fund will receive $500,000 for 2027 — and the same investment for 2028.
“This victory belongs to the San Antonians who refused to let this vital investment in our community disappear,” Sueños Sin Fronteras Executive Director Laura Molinar said. “It belongs to the organizers, advocates, organizations, service providers, and community members who showed up consistently and tirelessly to remind our city that reproductive justice is not an abstract idea, but a framework that empowers people to access the care, information, resources, and support they need about their bodies, pregnancies, families, and futures with dignity.”
The victory for Alamo City women’s health came days after the Texas Department of State Health Services said that it would delay the release of its Maternal Mortality report until Dec. 1 — after the November midterms.
The biannual document, usually released in September, will be the first full report since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and Texas enacted its near-total abortion ban.
Though Texans must wait for the official report from state officials, data analysis conducted by ProPublica shows that rates of pregnancy-related sepsis and deaths have skyrocketed in Texas after its abortion ban.
The San Antonio Women’s Health Fund no longer covers abortion travel expenses after a lawsuit by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton successfully blocked that use of funds. However, it will continue to provide funding for other reproductive health care services such as doulas, health education and logistical support resources for San Antonians.
“Reproductive justice goes beyond abortion access: it also demands governance that centers our ability to access health care — including reproductive health care — afford housing and food, make decisions about our own bodies, have children when and if we choose, and raise those children in safe communities,” Avow Texas Director of Governing Power Yaneth Flores said in a statement.
The long fight for reproductive justice
The fund was originally adopted in fall 2023 part of the city budget after Texas enacted its near-total abortion ban statewide in 2022.
Anti-abortion groups filed suit against the city, arguing that using tax dollars to fund abortion travel expenses was illegal. That suit was thrown out.
San Antonio’s Reproductive Justice Fund was included in the city budget again the next year — this time with funding for abortion travel excluded, even though such funding was a cornerstone of the program when it was first conceptualized. Instead, the $500,000 package that passed was earmarked for other reproductive health care initiatives, such as doula training, sex education, contraceptive access and STD testing.
In April 2025, City Council approved allocating an additional $100,000 for the fund, to include abortion travel reimbursement funds.
However, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton later sued the city and won, ending the use of the money for abortion travel expenses.
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