SAN ANTONIO — On Tuesday, the city decided how to spend half a million dollars set aside for reproductive rights in San Antonio.
Dubbed the "Reproductive Justice Fund," it was allocated as part of last fall's approved budget, and many council members hope part of the funding will be used to fund transportation to abortion care.
The majority of the money will be going towards prevention. The Metro Health District proposed that $50,000 go towards increasing housing and food security and access to care while $250,000 is spent on prevention, which includes doula scholarships, sex education and adding more contraception providers.
The remaining $200,000 would be allocated towards efforts like transportation to prenatal care, telehealth visits for STIs and transportation to abortion care. Previously, Metro Health officials proposed that $100,000 be allocated towards those efforts, though some city councilmembers wanted more money in that category, hence the increase.
Using taxpayer dollars for transportation to abortion care was a source of contention for councilmembers on Tuesday. Councilmen Marc Whyte of District 10, John Courage of District 9 and Manny Pelaez of District 8 have all disagreed on spending the money for abortion care.
"Here we are today, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars of our citizens' money to send women out of state to receive abortion services," Whyte said. "This is the municipal government gone wild."
Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez of District 2 disagreed, calling Whyte, Courage, and Pelaez "hypocritical." McKee-Rodriguez argued that abortion care is but a small part of what council members are accomplishing through the Reproductive Justice Fund.
"I think that it's important that our constituents who feel underrepresented by their state government and by their federal government at times know that, here at the local level, we're taking steps within our legal parameters to meet the need," McKee-Rodriguez said. "There are huge implications of this fund that have nothing to do with abortion at all, including sexual health education for youth, doulas, and Black maternal mental health and resources."
From the conversations Tuesday, Metro Health will issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) to determine which organizations will receive the funding and accomplish the goals the Reproductive Justice Fund is allocated for.
"We're putting this out to the community that has the wisdom, the people who have boots on the ground, and they're going to formulate what they see as the need for the response," said Dr. Junda Woo, medical director for the Metro Health District. "People would have to have a bid for the conversation to continue."
In the current timeline, the funding wouldn't be allocated nor programs in place until spring 2025. Several council members have asked for the timeline to be pushed up, which could still happen.
>TRENDING ON KENS 5 YOUTUBE: