Denton to vote on protecting reproductive freedom in wake of Supreme Court decision
Denton council member Alison Maguire is spearheading a resolution to affirm the rights of women to make decisions for their private reproductive health care and to not use city resources to investigate or enforce reproductive health care laws in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
The council is scheduled to vote on the resolution during Tuesday’s meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Denton City Hall, 215 E. McKinney St.
Maguire told the Star-Telegram that she met with a group called Local Progress that works with elected officials to bring resolutions before city councils. The group is also working with Austin officials, she said.
“It’s looking like Denton might be the first out of the gate to do this,” she said.
Maguire said she had to act quickly before the Texas “trigger law” outlawing abortion takes effect. It is unclear when the “trigger” law will take effect, but according to the Texas Tribune, Attorney General Ken Paxton said it could take a month.
The Texas Tribune also reported Monday that abortion providers filed a lawsuit in Harris County seeking a temporary restraining order to block old statutes that are still on the books that criminalize those performing abortions and those assisting anyone performing the procedure.
Some Republican lawmakers and anti-abortion activists have stated that the old abortion laws may have taken effect after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Maguire said Denton’s resolution states that the council believes in an individual’s right to make private health care decisions.
But there is also a fine line in that the city doesn’t have staffing to investigate violations of the abortion law, yet failure to report a felony could get a police officer in a lot of trouble, she said.
“We tried to craft it in such a way that minimizes risk to our police officers while declining to use local resources for persecuting pregnant women.”
However, Maguire emphasized that the resolution doesn’t cover other law enforcement agencies, such as the Denton County Sheriff or the University of North Texas police department.
“We have no influence over how they interpret these laws and their discretion. This represents the Denton city council doing their part to minimize harm from these laws.”
Maguire said she was expecting the outcome Friday when the Dobbs decision was issued overturning the longstanding Roe. v. Wade ruling, but she said it was still a difficult day.
Maguire, 35, who was elected a year ago, said she also brought the resolution up for a vote because she is the only one on the council who could find herself in need of an abortion.
“I’m worried about my children. I’m scared about what this does to folks who might find themselves in need of an abortion,” she said.
An abortion rights rally is also scheduled at 6 p.m. Tuesday in front of City Hall before the council meeting. Groups including Don’t Mess with Trans Texans, Sunrise Movement Denton, Denton County Young Democrats and Outreach Denton.