El Paso City Council approves creation of women’s rights panel after anti-abortion protest
The city of El Paso will create a commission focused on women’s equality
and protecting their rights.
After a protest Tuesday outside the El Paso City Hall building, a lengthy public comment period and a move to delete the item from the agenda, El Paso City Council members voted 5-3 to create the commission.
City Reps. Peter Svarzbein, Alexsandra Annello, Cassandra Hernandez, Isabel Salcido and Henry Rivera voted for the commission. City Reps. Joe Molinar, Claudia Rodriguez and Cissy Lizarraga voted against the item.
More than 50 anti-abortion protesters gathered Tuesday outside El Paso City Hall to oppose the creation of the commission.
The protest was organized by Irene Armendariz-Jackson, a Republican candidate running against U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D- El Paso, for U.S. House District 16.
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Armendariz-Jackson called for the City Council to stay out of the issue of abortion and instead address other issues, such as the city’s infrastructure or lower property taxes.
“Today, we will stand with life, and we will stand with what is morally right,” Armendariz-Jackson said. “It is immoral and it is wrong to dismember a baby in the womb of his mother, and life begins at conception.”
City representatives said a board or commission to protect women’s rights wouldn’t only look at abortion, but also would look at areas of gender inequality, such as child care, health care and pay inequity.
The move came days after a leaked draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court indicated that justices would overturn Roe v. Wade and leave the legality of abortion up to individual states.
The commission to protect women's rights would act as an advisory board.
City Council members said it would take a month to create the commission.
Rivera introduced the item to the agenda, and it was sponsored by Svarzbein, Annello and Hernandez.
Fifty-five people signed up to speak on the topic.
Dora Oaxaca, chair of the El Paso County Democratic Party, called for the creation of the panel because it will help identify socioeconomic issues that affect women.
“There’s a veterans' commission,” Oaxaca said. “We deserve a women’s commission.”
YWCA El Paso del Norte Region CEO Sylvia Acosta also urged the City Council to create the commission, saying every issue is a women’s issue.
“When women are at the center of conversations about human rights, health care, economics and other critical topics, communities thrive,” Acosta said during the item’s public comment.
Xochitl Rodriguez, a philanthropy officer at Planned Parenthood, said legal and private access to abortion is a right.
“We welcome a commission that will help alleviate the inequalities that affect women and their futures,” Rodriguez said.
Some who spoke against the creation of a women’s rights commission called it illegal. However, the city charter allows the City Council to create commissions, which serve an advisory role.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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Anthony Jackson may be reached at ADJackson@elpasotimes.com and @TonyAnjackson on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso City Council votes to create women’s rights commission
