(TT) – One of this session’s biggest anti-abortion bills, which would ban state and local governments from partnering with agencies that perform abortions even if they contract for services not related to the procedure, is headed to the governor’s desk. The Senate chamber agreed Friday with a change to Senate Bill 22 made in the House chamber. The bill would prohibit the transfer of money to an abortion provider — but it would also bar the transfer of goods,
services or anything that offers the provider “something of value derived from state or local tax revenue.” Abortion opponents worry that any money directed to abortion providers could be used to promote the organization in other important ways, like to finance advertisements or open a new clinic. They criticized Planned Parenthood’s $1-per-year rental agreement with the city for its East Austin clinic, which they’ve railed against as an unfair “sweetheart rent deal.” “This bill just prevents taxpayer dollars from being used to support or prop up abortion providers,” said state Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, the bill’s author. READ MORE