Houston lawmakers threaten legislation against companies covering abortion travel costs

A lawmaker located in Houston, Texas is threatening to propose legislation against companies that are currently offering to pay for their employees’ abortion-related expenses.

The warning was made by Republican State Rep. Briscoe Cain of Deer Park, who posted an announcement to Facebook recently that he is drafting a bill in response to Citigroup Inc.’s new corporation policy.

That policy from Citigroup Inc. offers to pay for travel expenses for employees who travel across state lines in order to seek an abortion as last year, Texas instituted a near-total ban on abortion in the state.

Cain said that his bill would ban the bank from underwriting municipal bonds in Texas unless it takes back its policy. He added that he sent a cease-and-desist letter to Citigroup chief executive Jan Fraser in which he said the policy was a “misuse of shareholder money.” 

“These are criminal organizations,” Cain continued. “It is a crime to pay for another person’s abortion in Texas, and anyone who gives money to these abortion funds will be prosecuted.”

The bill will have to wait for consideration until the next legislative session beginning in 2023, but if passed, Cain says the law would allow district attorneys from any location in Texas to prosecute a company that goes against the abortion law if the presiding district attorney fails to take action.

“Abortion funds think they can flout the law because a local district attorney refuses to bring charges,” Cain added. “We’ll fix this problem next session. Anyone involved with these abortion funds will be held accountable for their crimes.”