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AUSTIN, Texas – In response to Texas’s new abortion law banning the procedure from the sixth week of pregnancy, Portland, Oregon is considering a ban that would cut off state trade and business travel in the city.
What you need to know
- In response to Texas’s new abortion law, Portland City Council will vote on a resolution banning business travel to the city and trade with the state
- In a series of tweets, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick against the city and its leadership, stating, among other things, that Portland, not Texas, would bear the brunt of the financial burden of such a boycott
- An Associated Press report found that such a boycott could cost Texan companies millions of dollars
- The Portland City Council is now due to vote on the resolution next week
Portland City Council was due to vote on a stopgap on Wednesday, but Business Insider says the point has been postponed for a week to investigate the potential impact.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a staunch Conservative who supports the abortion law, targeted Oregon’s largest city and its Mayor Ted Wheeler in a series of tweets.
“It’s weird that the Mayor of Portland @tedwheeler was worried about Texas when his city overthrew the police and had to tell the people to ‘take the city back.’ Texas is solid #prolife and Texans support law enforcement. Meanwhile, Portland is a dumpster fire and Texas is thriving, ”Patrick tweeted on September 4th.
In another September 6 tweet, Patrick suggested such a ban would harm Portland more than the Lone Star State.
“The Portland boycott of Texas is a complete joke,” he wrote. “A city run by depraved officials allows lawlessness and puts its citizens in great danger. A boycott will harm them, not us. Texas’s economy is stronger than ever. We value babies and the police, they don’t. “
The Portland boycott of Texas is a joke. A city run by depraved officials allows lawlessness and puts its citizens in grave danger. A boycott will harm them, not us. Texas’s economy is stronger than ever. We value babies and police, they don’t.
– Dan Patrick (@DanPatrick) September 6, 2021
Despite Patrick’s suggestion that Portland would bear the brunt of such a boycott, it may not.
Such a ban could cost Texan companies millions of dollars a year, according to an Associated Press report referring to officials.
Heather Hafer, a spokeswoman for the Office of Management and Finance, said Portland has signed nearly $ 35 million in contracts with Texan companies in the past five years, The Oregonian / OregonLive reported.
She also said Portland employees have made 19 different trips to the Lones Star State for official reasons since 2019.
New Texas law prohibits abortions once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity, usually about six weeks – before some people know they are pregnant. Texas law is vastly different from the laws blocked in other states in that it leaves private individuals to enforce through lawsuits rather than law enforcement.
“The ban will remain in place until the state of Texas lifts its unconstitutional ban on abortion or until it is lifted in court. The city’s legal advisor is currently reviewing the legal aspects of this proposed resolution, ”said a city-state press release. “The Portland City Council agrees that all people should have the right to choose whether and when to carry out a pregnancy, and that the choices they make are complex, difficult, and unique to their circumstances . “
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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