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Portland, Oregon, this week dropped plans to ban city-to-Texas business over Lone Star State’s controversial new abortion law, fearing it could hurt Texans most affected .
City council voted 4-1 Wednesday to set aside $ 200,000 for organizations that provide reproductive care.
The only “no” was voted by Commissioner Mingus Mapps, who said he was “mystified” by the allocation of funds.
“Our city is overwhelmed by multiple crises. This council should focus on resolving them,” he said. “We have a gun violence crisis. We have a homeless crisis. We have a garbage crisis. And we have a pandemic.”
Mapps said he opposed the Texas law that went into effect earlier this month.
Portland has purchased nearly $ 35 million worth of goods and services from Texas over the past five years, spokeswoman Heather Hafer said.
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“Will what we’re doing today fundamentally change the mindset of Texas lawmakers? Probably not,” Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty said. “But what he will do is send a very strong message to the people of Texas that we are not abandoning them just because, unfortunately, they have the leadership they have.”
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler speaks at Town Hall on August 30, 2020 (Getty Images)
The Texas Heartbeat Act, which came into effect on September 1 after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott passed it in May, bans abortions in the state after about six weeks.
Critics argued that many women do not realize they are pregnant within this time frame and objected to the lack of exceptions in the law for cases of rape or incest.
“It will spread”
“I’ve heard some suggest that this (law) has no bearing on our local community… I couldn’t disagree more,” Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said in a meeting Wednesday. . “If this Texas law, restricting women’s rights, is allowed, it will spread to other states – it will jeopardize Roe v. Wade and it will impact our voters here in the city of Portland.”
Wheeler posted several tweets about Wednesday’s resolution, writing that it was his “duty and honor” to vote “yes.”
“We will not remain silent in the face of oppression and control,” he tweeted. “We will speak out, act and hold other states accountable for the disproportionate damage they inflict on communities of color, women, non-binary gender individuals, working poor families, and immigrant communities.”
Wheeler announced the derailed Texas business boycott plan earlier this month.
“A complete joke”
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick mocked the boycott plan as a “complete joke” on Twitter after Wheeler made the initial announcement.
“A city run by depraved government officials allows lawlessness, putting its citizens in grave danger. A boycott will hurt them, not us. Texas’ economy is stronger than ever. We value babies and the police, not them.” , he wrote.
The boycott would have banned the purchase of goods and services by Portland, Texas and the movement of pub city employees until the legislation is overturned or rescinded.
Wheeler appears to have publicly announced the ban before authorities worked out the details of how a boycott in Texas would work.
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During Labor Day, city officials met with reproductive health care providers and lawyers to discuss the boycott. Wheeler said defenders “disagreed with certain elements” of the ban and suggested alternatives.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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