$50K In Abortion Access Money Moves To St. Pete City Council For Vote

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — A St. Petersburg City Council committee advanced a $50,000 funding request for the Tampa Bay Abortion Fund at its Thursday meeting.

The council’s Health, Energy, Resilience and Sustainability Committee moved forward a motion by city councilor and committee member Richie Floyd to give money from the city’s general funds to the organization, which financially assists low-income individuals seeking abortions in several counties in the Tampa Bay area.

In the next step, the City Council will discuss and vote on the matter at an upcoming meeting.

Following a discussion on the topic at Thursday’s meeting, the committee tweaked the motion to specify that the money will help only St. Petersburg residents and funds will be used solely for “practical services.”

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These “practical services” include travel-related expenses for those seeking out-of-state abortions after 15 weeks, such as flights, gas, hotels, rideshare services, gas reimbursement and food, Kris Lawler, TBAF president, told the committee.

A 15-week abortion ban went into effect in Florida last summer. It prohibits abortion procedures after 15 weeks of pregnancy, only making exceptions if the mother’s life is in danger or if the fetus has a fatal abnormality. It also doesn't grant exemptions for the victims of rape, incest or human trafficking. Prior to this, Florida law allowed abortions up to 24 weeks.

Several committee members and councilors at the meeting shared their support of safe, legal abortion access, but hesitated when it came to using city tax dollars to pay for abortions.

“Now should the access of abortions be open and available? Absolutely I think it should be, but I also don’t want to cross that line as to municipal government and what we are trying to do vs. … setting precedents,” Deborah Figgs-Sanders, city councilor and alternate committee member, said.

Gina Driscoll, city councilor and committee member, suggested designating the city funds for travel, specifically.

“So we’re helping, but we’re being clear on what part of the mission we’re helping with,” she said.

Last year, TBAF spent about $280,000 to assist those seeking an abortion last year, Lawler told the committee.

Of these funds, $220,000 was used for appointment costs – the abortion care, itself, and other care, like birth control – while about $60,000 was spent on travel-related expenses.

About 90 percent of funding requests for out-of-state care came after July when Florida’s new 15-week abortion ban went into effect.

“We do expect that to get worse with the legal landscape that is coming,” Lawler said.