The city of San Francisco has added 22 states with laws limiting abortion access to a blacklist that prevents city employees from traveling to those states on the city’s dime or dealing with businesses based in them.
The ban will take effect on January 1, 2020.
“We are standing up against states that put women’s health at risk and that are actively working to limit reproductive freedoms,” said Mayor London Breed in a press release announcing the ban. “By limiting travel and contracting with certain states, we are sending a clear message to states that disregard the right to abortion.”
City Supervisor Vallie Brown said the ban showed “our commitment to women, trans men, and nonbinary people in San Francisco and across the country.”
The blacklisted states all have “restrictive abortion laws,” defined by the city as laws which “restrict abortion before viability of the fetus to live outside of the womb,” according to the press release.
Nine of the states — Alabama, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Texas — were already included in a previous blacklist for what city officials deemed laws that discriminated against LGBTQ citizens.
San Francisco city officials also drew fire from conservatives last month when the City Council passed a resolution calling the National Rifle Association a “domestic terrorist organization.” The NRA subsequently sued the city, and in late September, Mayor Breed and City Attorney Dennis Herrera ruled that the resolution would have no effect on city policies.