City employees in San Francisco are now forbidden to take work trips or do business with companies in 22 states that have “restrictive abortion laws.”
Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Vallie Brown announced the measure last week.
“Every day in this country, women’s reproductive rights are threatened, and we have to fight back. 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,” Breed said in a statement.
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She added: “By limiting travel and contracting with certain states, we are sending a clear message to states that disregard the right to abortion.”
The states being blacklisted by San Francisco for their “severe anti-choice policies” are 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.
Nine states – Alabama, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Texas – were already on the city’s list because of their LGBTQ laws and policies.
The ban will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2020.
All 22 states on San Francisco’s list ban abortion after between 13 and 24 weeks, while two of those states have attempted to ban abortion throughout pregnancy and five have attempted to ban abortion at six weeks.
City officials acknowledge that the ban may not provide the financial blow to the states to force them to rethink their anti-abortion measures, but Breed’s office hopes its move will serve as an example for other municipalities to follow suit.
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“Although tax revenue from San Francisco alone may not be sufficient to encourage states to rethink their laws, if other cities and states follow San Francisco’s lead, the financial pressure might be enough to prompt policy changes,” her office said.
The move by San Francisco comes a little more than a month after its city council passed a resolution calling the National Rifle Association a “domestic terrorist organization.” The NRA quickly filed a lawsuit against the city and Breed eventually said in late September that the resolution would have no effect on city policies.
