El Paso City Council votes against limiting funding, investigations of abortion
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The El Paso City Council — with Mayor Oscar Leeser casting the tie-breaking vote — defeated a measure that would have directed the El Paso Police Department to make abortion investigations a low-level priority.
After almost four hours of public comment on Tuesday, the proposed ordinance was rejected on a 4-5 vote.
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A packed City Council chamber erupted with cheers and jeers from anti-abortion and pro-choice protesters after the vote. District 4 city Rep. Joe Molinar moved for the council to go into recess as members of the crowd chanted "shame" at the representatives.
Following the City Council's recess, El Paso Police Department officers escorted the groups outside, where a protest began outside City Hall.
When the council came back to the chamber, after the representatives voted on the agenda item, Leeser said he voted the way he did because the city has to abide by state and federal law.
"I respect everyone's opinion and everybody has rights, but at the end of the day, we are governed by the state of Texas," Leeser said.
City Rep. Alexsandra Annello interjected to point out that the mayor can't continue talking about the agenda item after it was voted on. Leeser said it was "impossible to speak" after he had cast the deciding vote.
The agenda item would have limited the amount of resources used to investigate abortion by the El Paso Police Department by pledging that:
Taxpayer dollars will not be used frivolously for programs or efforts to criminalize women/individuals who seek abortion;
City funds will not be used to solicit, catalog, report or investigate reports of abortion;
Police should make investigating abortion their lowest priority.
Leeser and city Reps. Molinar, Isabel Salcido, Claudia Rodriguez and Cissy Lizarraga voted against the item. City Reps. Peter Svarzbein, Annello, Cassandra Hernandez and Henry Rivera voted for it.
Annello said this ordinance would not stop police from investigating cases where there is criminal neglect or coercion.
"Our communities are safer when we prioritize care over criminalization," Annello said.
Salcido, the District 5 representative, said she doesn't think the ordinance has gone "through the proper vetting," and suggested the city's women's rights commission weigh in on the legal language.
Hernandez, who represents District 4, said the city has to take actions to correct the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe V. Wade, especially when more than 60% of the city's budget goes to public safety.
"This will cost taxpayer dollars, so if you're concerned about your taxes, rediverting any efforts for criminalizing abortion will cost you money in your property taxes," Hernandez said.
During the meeting, El Paso Police Department Chief Greg Allen said he does not support investigating abortions as low priority.
"Investigating abortions at the lowest level, no, I'm not for that in any form or fashion right now," Allen said.
Shortly after Allen said that, El Paso City Manager Tommy Gonzalez interjected, saying: "Any state or federal law preempts anything we do locally."
When Lizarraga asked Allen if he would feel comfortable being told by the City Council to "ignore" laws passed by the Texas Legislature, Gonzalez answered for him, saying Allen and his officers have to follow state and federal law.
Under Texas' trigger law, following the Supreme Court's decision to repeal Roe V. Wade late last month, any provider who provides abortion care is liable for a second-degree felony, or a first-degree felony if the embryo or fetus dies.
The law makes no exception for women to get an abortion if they are survivors of rape or incest. Abortions are only available to save the life of a pregnant woman or to prevent impairment of a major bodily function.
The trigger law takes effect July 24.
Almost 100 people signed up to speak on the item. Leeser asked speakers to limit their comments to one minute, but they were able to speak for three minutes.
Scores of anti-abortion protesters spoke against the agenda item, but according to a June 13 Pew Research Center poll, 61% of U.S. adults say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
Carlos Montijo, a pastor with the Thorncrown Covenant Baptist Church, said he is concerned about the city, the unborn and "not provoking God's wrath on the city."
"So, we're talking about unborn children made in God's image that are being killed," Montijo said. "Murder should be the highest priority that you all should pursue that the police should examine."
Some people who spoke against the agenda item said this ordinance won't matter since the Texas state law will criminalize abortion providers. However, some states may consider criminal charges against those who seek or attempt to perform an abortion following the Supreme Court's ruling.
On May 12, Louisiana legislators withdrew a bill that would charge women and their doctors with murder for those who obtain or provide abortion services, according to a report from Reuters.
Lorena Soto, the program director and building manager for the Borderland Rainbow Center, asked City Council members what they expect to happen next after a woman's right to an abortion has been taken away.
"You open the door for this to be allowed, women will be hunted next," Soto said. "This is about women being looked at as second-class citizens. This is something that is anti-woman."
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Jo Anne Bernal, the first female El Paso county attorney, in a letter to the City Council, advocated for the ordinance's passage.
"No, it will not change the law, but it will send a strong and valuable symbolic message that the city will stand with a woman's right to make autonomous reproductive decisions," Bernal's letter read.
The El Paso Times sought comment from the District Attorney Yvonne Rosales' office, but has not yet received a response.
El Pasoans concerned with privacy in post-Roe America
Nicole Ochoa said women who are pregnant deserve the right to privacy regarding their bodily autonomy as well as any health care decision that they make, including the right to seek an abortion.
Digital rights advocates say they're concerned about the role of data privacy in a post-Roe America.
More: Google will automatically delete records of abortion clinic visits
More: Can HIPAA protect you from anti-abortion laws? What to know about medical privacy rights.
Purvi Patel, an Indiana woman, in 2015 was charged and convicted for ending her own pregnancy. The Washington Post reported investigators used texts with Patel's friend, internet search history and emails as evidence to prosecute Patel with "feticide." She was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but was released after her conviction was overturned.
In a CBS News article, Alexandra Reeve Givens, the president and CEO of a Washington-based digital rights nonprofit, the Center for Democracy and Technology, said leaving the decision of legalizing abortion to the states "opens the door to law enforcement and private bounty hunters" to seek prosecution for people who seek an abortion or medical care for a miscarriage.
Since the Supreme Court's decision, many American women have deleted period tracking apps out of concern that their collected data can be used against them in criminal cases where abortions are illegal, according to an article from the Guardian.
In May, VICE News reported that one data broker charges $160 to get "a week's worth of data on where people who visited Planned Parenthood came from, and where they went afterwards."
El Paso City Council OK's changes to discrimination policy
In other action, the El Paso City Council voted 6-2 to approve changes to the city's discrimination policy by including protections for potential employees regarding their:
Reproductive health actions;
Gender identification;
Sexual orientation;
Hair style and/or texture.
The move seeks to address housing discrimination, discrimination in public accommodations, discrimination in employment generally and discrimination in employment by city contractors.
City Attorney Karla Nieman said the city's policy is broad and doesn't specifically cover what is mentioned, adding that the specifications won't conflict with current city policy or state laws.
City representatives Lizarraga and Rodriguez voted against the amendment to the discrimination policy. Rodriguez said she wouldn't support this motion because "we do not have a history of discriminating."
"I don't think we're going to start discriminating," Rodriguez said.
Annello said her office has received a lot of calls from members of the LGBTQ community because they were being evicted for hanging pride flags or for their sexual identity.
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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 against limiting abortion investigations
