Laura Molinar, co-founder of Sueños Sin Fronteras, kneels at an altar honoring lives lost due to the near-total abortion ban in Texas. Credit: Stephanie Koithan

City Council on Thursday approved allocating another $100,000 for the San Antonio Reproductive Justice Fund to support reproductive-health services, this time including money for out-of-state abortion travel.

The expansion was approved on a 6-5 vote.

Ahead of the vote, activists held a vigil on Main Plaza near council chambers in tribute to lives lost to Texas’ near-total abortion ban. At least three women have died in the Lone Star State as a direct result of doctors avoiding abortions to end problem pregnancies, and a ProPublica investigation found that the state’s maternal mortality rate is up sharply since the procedure was outlawed.

When San Antonio’s Reproductive Justice Fund initially passed in November, funds for abortion travel were excluded. Instead, the $500,000 package was earmarked for other reproductive healthcare initiatives, such as doula training, sex education, contraceptive access and STD testing.

Talk of death hung like a specter over the chamber as speakers on both sides of the issue addressed council before the vote. Abortion-rights activists used their time at the podium to remind those on the dais of the lives lost due to the state’s near-total abortion ban, explaining that some the women who died had wanted to see their babies born but succumbed to health issues because they couldn’t abort a problem pregnancy.

“I hope that everyone will take a minute to look at the altar set up outside that honors and remembers the people who were unable to get abortion care in Texas,” said Ariana Rodriguez, youth advocacy and community engagement manager at abortion advocacy group Jane’s Due Process. “They were mothers and sisters, they had wanted pregnancies and were robbed of long beautiful lives because of our state’s harmful policies.”

Laura Molinar, co-founder of reproductive-justice group Sueños Sin Fronteras, acknowledged that the city’s vote to fund abortion travel would likely result in blowback. However, she urged council members not to let that get in the way of making a compassionate choice.

“We are calling upon our elected leaders to stand firm in their support of this expansion of the fund, regardless of the political threats and anti-abortion legislation being proposed at the state level,” Molinar said. “The community of San Antonio deserves leaders who stand firm, who choose justice over fear, and compassion over these political threats.”

Those who opposed to the expansion argued that abortion ends the life of what they consider a living being.

“God intended for the womb to be a place of protection but you all — every single one of you — you choose to turn the womb into a tomb, on my tax dollars,” minister and mayoral candidate Tim Westley said ahead of the vote. He also took advantage of his time to plug his mayoral campaign.

During remarks ahead of their ‘no’ vote, councilmen Marc Whyte and Manny Pelaez brought up Texas Senate Bill 33, a measure now in committee that would prohibit city governments from aiding someone in seeking abortion care.

Both men argued the fund would open the city to lawsuits should SB 33 pass. Even so, it’s unclear whether the proposed legislation would apply to funding distributed before it becomes law and whether the legislation would prohibit the city from doling out the remainder of the funds after its passage.

At the pre-meeting vigil, organized by the SA Repro Justice Coalition, some 30 participants lit candles, knelt and laid flowers at a community ofrenda featuring photos of 10 of the more than 120 Texas women ProPublica reports have died pregnancy-related deaths since the ban. Such deaths are often due to doctors’ hesitance to intervene in life-threatening medical emergencies such as sepsis for fear of litigation and losing their license to practice medicine.

The names of the deceased Texas women honored in the ofrenda included Neveah Crain, Porsha Ngumezi, Candi Miller, Rosie Jimenez, Josseli Barnica, Samantha Dean, Yeniifer Alvarez-Estrada Glick, Jade Alyssa Alvarez, Gabriella Gonzalez and Amber Thurman. As mourners paid their respects, mariachi band Trio Ardiente led them in plaintive serenades.

Trio Ardiente play solemn mariachi music at the ofrenda on Main Plaza. Credit: Stephanie Koithan

Texas maternal deaths rose 33% between 2019 and 2023 while the national average fell by 7.5%, according to ProPublica. In its data analysis, the news organization counted 122 pregnancy-related deaths in Texas hospitals in 2022 and 2023, compared to 79 in 2018 and 2019, the most recent comparable years pre-pandemic and pre-abortion ban.

While reproductive-justice advocates held their vigil on Main Plaza, a counterprotest took place on the steps of City Hall, comprised of San Antonio faith leaders and anti-abortion activists.

Anti-abortion activists demonstrate during a counterprotest on the steps of City Hall. Jack Finger, pictured in the center, likened abortion travel to sex trafficking for prostitution in his remarks ahead of the vote. Credit: Stephanie Koithan

After the vigil and counter-protest, activists on both sides of the issue filed into City Council chambers to speak out on the expansion of the fund, which re-allocates existing metro health budget dollars earmarked for administrative costs.

Both Pelaez and Whyte balked at the $100,00 fund, and the additional attorneys’ fees to defend it.

“I ask for consistency in terms of being a fiscally responsible steward of public dollars,” remarked District 5 councilwoman Teri Castillo, who referenced a $100 million estimated cost to move a fully operational water plant to facilitate Project Marvel. “Let’s be consistent and sure that we are being responsible when it comes to these larger investments in terms of hundreds of millions of dollars and not $100,000.”

Council members Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, Melissa Cabello Havrda, Sukh Kaur, Phyllis Viagran and Teri Castillo joined mayor Mayor Ron Nirenberg in voting for the expansion. Pelaez and Whyte voted against, joined by Adriana Rocha Garcia, Mariana Alderete Gavito and John Courage.

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This article appears in Apr 2-15, 2025.

Stephanie Koithan is the Digital Content Editor of the San Antonio Current. In her role, she writes about politics, music, art, culture and food. Send her a tip at skoithan@sacurrent.com.