Texas' gender-affirming care law: Austin City Council makes enforcement a low priority

The Austin City Council sent a message Thursday reaffirming its stance against the Republican-led Texas Legislature's passage last year of gender-affirming care restrictions on minors. With a near-unanimous vote, the council approved a resolution that de-prioritizes the city's enforcement of state laws that restrict or criminalize access to gender-affirming care.

The council's resolution comes on the heels of Senate Bill 14, a law that went into effect in September and bans puberty blockers, hormone therapy and other gender-affirming care for minors in Texas. The law also prohibits medical professionals from administering such procedures for minors and requires the Texas Medical Board to revoke the license of any physician who provides that care.

"Obviously we're subject to those laws as a city within the state of Texas, but we just want to make it clear to our Police Department that these are not a priority for enforcement," Council Member José “Chito” Vela, who sponsored the resolution, told the American-Statesman.

The resolution states that if any state law or regulation comes with criminal punishment, civil liability, administrative penalties or professional sanctions related to gender-affirming care, its enforcement will be the lowest priority for city personnel.

Council Member Mackenzie Kelly, the City Council's lone conservative, was the only "no" vote on the resolution.

"While I respect the motivations behind this resolution, I believe it is fundamentally flawed in terms of legal authority and fiscal responsibility," Kelly said.

Vela said this resolution is similar to the GRACE Act — Guarding the Right to Abortion Care for Everyone Act — which he authored and was passed by the City Council a month before Texas' abortion ban went into effect in 2022.

"We're still subject to the laws ... there's no question about that," Vela said. "As a community, these types of criminal offenses are not a priority for us, and we want to make sure that the targeted communities understand that as well."

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton responded Thursday after the City Council's vote, saying in a news release that it was "no more than an empty political statement."

"If the City of Austin refuses to follow the law and protect children, my office will consider every possible response to ensure compliance," Paxton said. "Texas municipalities do not have the authority to pick and choose which state laws they will or will not abide by. The people of Texas have spoken, and Austin City Council must listen.”

The resolution has also drawn pushback from some Republican state lawmakers, such as Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, who quoted a post about the resolution on X before it was passed, formerly Twitter, and said he would be refiling his "District of Austin" bill.

A 2021 bill that Cain authored sought to turn Austin into a district that would be overseen by the Legislature — an arrangement analogous to Washington, D.C., and its relationship with the federal government. House Bill 4521 in the 87th Legislature did not make it out of committee.

Michelle Evans read a statement on behalf of state Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, at Thursday's council meeting that also alluded to the "District of Austin" legislation.

"Actions like the one being proposed today, if passed, make it abundantly clear that this council is unfit to manage the capital city of the greatest state in the country," Evans read aloud before the City Council voted to approve the resolution.

Editor's note: This story was updated after the Austin City Council voted to pass the resolution.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin to weigh enforcing gender-affirming care law as low priority