Declare City Council support for reproductive healthcare rights and opposition to the State of Texas’ ban on abortion, and direct the City Budget Office to include $200,000 in General Fund unrestricted contingency resources in the Mayor’s Fall Supplemental Budget Ordinance, to be allocated to organizations that deliver programs and services related to reproductive healthcare

WHEREAS, t he Texas Legislature has passed into law a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy and authorizing private citizens to sue any person who performs an abortion or otherwise aids and abets such a procedure; and WHEREAS, in 1973, the United States Supreme Court ruled that women have the constitutional right to an abortion. Nonetheless, on September 1, 2021, the Supreme Court refused to block Texas’ unconstitutional ban on abortions; and WHEREAS, the Texas abortion ban disregards the human rights of those who become pregnant; does not demonstrate concern for the health, safety and well-being of those who may become pregnant; violates the separation of church and state; and will force people to carry pregnancies against their will; and WHEREAS, the Texas abortion ban will also force those who seek to exercise their constitutional right to obtain an abortion to travel to other states to do so, or to obtain abortions in uncertified and potentially unsafe conditions; and WHEREAS, the Portland City Council steadfastly believes that all people should have the right to choose if and when they carry a pregnancy, and to obtain an abortion under the care of certified healthcare providers in safe and secure facilities; and WHEREAS, the Portland City Council wishes to manifest its opposition to the Texas abortion ban, and its support for those who are affected by it, by ensuring that those who seek to exercise their constitutional right to an abortion have access to certified healthcare providers in safe and secure facilities by providing funds to organizations that provide necessary programs and services related to reproductive healthcare; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Portland City Council expresses its unwavering support for the constitutional right of a person to choose if and when they carry a pregnancy ; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Portland City Council expresses its steadfast opposition to restrictive state laws, such as Texas’ law, that are hostile to the right to make individual choices about reproductive healthcare; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, to support those wishing to exercise their right to make individual decisions about their reproductive healthcare, the City Budget Office shall include $200,000 in General Fund unrestricted contingency resources in the Mayor’s Fall Supplemental Budget Ordinance to be allocated to one or more organizations that deliver programs and services related to reproductive healthcare; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City Council shall send a letter to the Oregon Congressional delegation urging them to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act to secure the rights of Roe v. Wade into federal statute; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City Council shall send a letter to the Biden Administration supporting the United States Department of Justice’s challenge to the Texas law in court; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Portland City Attorney's Office is directed to participate as an amicus challenging the Texas law consistent with Resolution 37443 at the most effective and strategically valuable opportunity.