A group of councilors from the Texas city of Austin has developed a creative draft resolution to torpedo and make unfeasible the application of the law with which the state, governed by Republicans, converts abortion into a serious criminal offense. The mandate in preparation, which the Democratic majority of the Consistory would carry out, places the execution of this criminalization of abortion as the last priority of the police and municipal officials. The mandate also restricts the use of city funds and personnel to "investigate, catalog or report suspicions of voluntary interruption of pregnancy," explained councilman and spokesman for the proponent group, José Vela.
The proposal counterattacks the so-called activation law against reproductive rights in the state of Texas: a text designed to take effect 30 days after the Supreme Court confirms its plan – already voted by the conservative majority of the Court – to eliminate the right to abortion enshrined in the Roe v. Wade, in force since 1973.
Texas already passed an aggressive abortion ban law last September that rewards citizens with $10,000 for reporting not only women who terminate their pregnancies by choice after the first six weeks, but also doctors, health assistants and anyone else to help them do it.
But the Texas activation law, linked to the almost certain sentence of the Supreme Court and similar to those planned or already approved in 25 other states across the country, goes far beyond the current prohibition in the territory governed by the ultra-conservative Greg Abbott; the new bill makes abortion a first-degree felony, punishable by up to 99 years in prison.
"It is an abuse of the criminal justice system that can destroy people's lives," said Mayor José Vela. And after indicating that in Texas the age of majority is reached at 17, he added: “We are considering the prospect that a 17-year-old girl who has become pregnant without planning it and wants an abortion is exposed to spending the rest of her life in prison She is totally unacceptable.”
In early April, 26-year-old Texan Lizelle Herrera was arrested and charged with murder in Rio Grande City after having an abortion. The indictment stated that Herrera had "intentionally caused the death of a person." It was a mistake, as the crime of abortion did not yet exist. The Prosecutor's Office admitted it and dropped the charges. But the case gives an idea of what Republican lawmakers and prosecutors intend to do when the Supreme Court liquidates current reproductive rights.
Other Texas cities like Houston, Dallas and San Antonio could follow Austin's path in countering the planned abortion ban, according to the director of the progressive NGO Ground Game Texas, Julie Oliver. According to her, the autonomy of the municipalities gives cities "an enormous margin of maneuver and self-government."
The key in cases like this is found in the power of the municipalities to decide which laws to prioritize. And since municipalities "have a finite amount of resources, cities continually decide which laws they enforce and which they don't."
They are creative tactics on the front lines. Urban guerrilla techniques in the American political battle.
