San Francisco Mayor London Breed
A new ordinance sponsored by San Francisco Supervisor Vallie Brown and passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors prohibits city-funded travel to 22 states that have “anti-choice and restrictive abortion laws.”
The blacklists, which also include contracts with businesses in these states, goes into effect Jan. 1, 2020.
Nine states on the new list were already blacklisted because of their supposed “anti-LGBT laws” – Alabama, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Texas.
“Just as we restricted spending with states that have laws that discriminate against LGBTQ people, we are standing up against states that put women’s health at risk and that are actively working to limit reproductive freedoms,” San Francisco Mayor London Breed said in a statement.
States with “severe anti-choice policies” blacklisted by San Francisco include: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
“Limiting government travel in the name of ‘choice’ pulls back the veil on what the pro-abortion movement is really after: more abortion, with no limit. This isn’t about choice at all; it’s about protecting abortion interests over freedom,” Stephanie Ranade Krider, vice president and executive director of Ohio Right to Life, told The Center Square.
The 22 states on the blacklist ban abortion for women who are between 13 and 24 weeks pregnant. Two states attempted to ban abortion altogether; five attempted to ban abortion at six weeks through fetal heartbeat bills, including one signed by Democratic governor John Bel Edwards this past legislative session.
“Florida Right to life is not at all concerned about a travel ban to the beautiful state of Florida,” Lynda Bell, president of Florida Right to Life, told The Center Square. “Any ban does no harm to the Sunshine State. It just deprives the traveler. We do not check our morals at the proverbial door in fear of any backlash, real or perceived!”
The ban came several months after Nevada’s Democrat-controlled Legislature passed, and Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak signed into law, a bill that removed longstanding criminal penalties on abortions. The bill also eliminated a requirement that doctors ask a woman’s age and martial status, and disclose specific aspects of the procedure.
