Tell Fort Worth City Council to pass the GRACE Act

Fort Worth City Officials,

I’m urging you to protect the people of Fort Worth, prioritize our community with our tax dollars, and focus on genuine safety with our law enforcement. As a Fort Worth resident, I urge you to deprioritize enforcement of prosecutions over abortion. Please immediately pass the GRACE Act in Fort Worth, Texas. 

As you may know, this would mean you recommend:

• City funds not be used to solicit, catalog, report, or investigate reports of abortion
• Police make investigating abortion their lowest priority

Why is this critical for Fort Worth?

Our pregnant people face higher health risks. Doctors need some assurance to give timely care.

• Prenatal care in the 1st trimester was in the 2nd worst category in Fort Worth (and much of Tarrant County) in 2015
• Fort Worth’s region had the highest rate of drinking in the last three months of pregnancy in Texas in 2015
• Maternal Mortality Rate in Fort Worth is higher than the US average, which is already high for a developed nation (TX has not reported regional rates since 2015, but it was increasing, so this gap may be even worse now)
• Under SB8, expectant management (not allowing abortion to save health) resulted in 57% of patients having a serious maternal morbidity compared with 33% who elected immediate pregnancy interruption under similar clinical circumstances reported in states without such legislation. A more severe abortion ban went into effect since, so outcomes may get worse.

We cannot afford to spend our tax dollars on unnecessary prosecutions, especially at the cost of helping our struggling community.

• You propose only a 2.48% increase to expenses for the City Attorney FY2022 budget, which likely did not include allotments to prosecuting abortions. You didn’t add any full-time staff either. You said the office has an “already heavy workload” and that prosecutors are going to have to keep taking on Municipal Court duties.
• With about 1 in 4 pregnancies ending in miscarriage and health risks being so complicated, there could be many investigations. How will you handle the burden of even more work and expenses? What services to the people will you cut to make room? What danger will you bring to our community by not focusing on necessary prosecutions?

Texas agrees – we need your support.

• Only 8% of Texans said women should not be able to get a legal abortion if their health is seriously endangered (life at risk was not asked, but may make this even lower).
• Austin, Dallas, Denton, and San Antonio have already adopted similar acts.

People able to get pregnant now fear:

Would my doctor spend hours, days, or weeks before trying to save me to try to save their own liberty? What if I have a missed miscarriage and need medical help? There is technically an exception for miscarriages, but these medically look similar. With a 1st degree felony and 100k fine on the line, will my healthcare providers delay or deny my care to deliberate? What if I need an abortion to save my health? The higher my risk, the lower theirs, so how high will they let my risk go? How will I endure the pain? Will I recover fully? How will I pay even more medical bills? What if what they and their lawyers thought would be “high enough risk” becomes “too much risk” and I am left dead? 

A study already shows this happening before Texas’ more severe abortion ban went into effect August 25th. Now, healthcare providers are also risking 1st degree felonies, 100k+ fines, and prison time. When they risk everything, we risk everything.

You cannot completely alleviate this risk, but you can give our healthcare providers and their lawyers some assurance in providing care in time.

Please prioritize our people, safety, and health. Please deprioritize enforcement of Texas’ abortion bans. Pass the GRACE Act – please.

Thank you,

YOUR NAME

YOUR ADDRESS (to prove you’re their constituent)

Fort Worth City Officials,

I’m urging you to protect the people of Fort Worth, prioritize our community with our tax dollars, and focus on genuine safety with our law enforcement. As a Fort Worth resident, I urge you to deprioritize enforcement of prosecutions over abortion. Please immediately pass the GRACE Act in Fort Worth, Texas. 

As you may know, this would mean you recommend:

• City funds not be used to solicit, catalog, report, or investigate reports of abortion
• Police make investigating abortion their lowest priority

Why is this critical for Fort Worth?

Our pregnant people face higher health risks. Doctors need some assurance to give timely care.

• Prenatal care in the 1st trimester was in the 2nd worst category in Fort Worth (and much of Tarrant County) in 2015
• Fort Worth’s region had the highest rate of drinking in the last three months of pregnancy in Texas in 2015
• Maternal Mortality Rate in Fort Worth is higher than the US average, which is already high for a developed nation (TX has not reported regional rates since 2015, but it was increasing, so this gap may be even worse now)
• Under SB8, expectant management (not allowing abortion to save health) resulted in 57% of patients having a serious maternal morbidity compared with 33% who elected immediate pregnancy interruption under similar clinical circumstances reported in states without such legislation. A more severe abortion ban went into effect since, so outcomes may get worse.

We cannot afford to spend our tax dollars on unnecessary prosecutions, especially at the cost of helping our struggling community.

• You propose only a 2.48% increase to expenses for the City Attorney FY2022 budget, which likely did not include allotments to prosecuting abortions. You didn’t add any full-time staff either. You said the office has an “already heavy workload” and that prosecutors are going to have to keep taking on Municipal Court duties.
• With about 1 in 4 pregnancies ending in miscarriage and health risks being so complicated, there could be many to investigate. How will you handle the burden of even more work and expenses? What services to the people will you cut to make room? What danger will you bring to our community by not focusing on necessary prosecutions?

Texas agrees – we need your support.

• Only 8% of Texans said women should not be able to get a legal abortion if their health is seriously endangered (life at risk was not asked, but may make this even lower) 
• Austin, Dallas, Denton, and San Antonio have already adopted similar acts

People able to get pregnant now fear:

Would my doctor spend hours, days, or weeks before trying to save me to try to save their own liberty? What if I have a missed miscarriage and need medical help? There is technically an exception for miscarriages, but these medically look similar. With a 1st degree felony and 100k fine on the line, will my healthcare providers delay or deny my care to deliberate? The higher my risk, the lower theirs, so how high will they let my risk go? How will I endure the pain? Will I recover fully? How will I pay even more medical bills? What if what they and their lawyers thought would be “high enough risk” becomes “too much risk” and I am left dead? 

A study already shows this happening before Texas’ more severe abortion ban went into effect August 25th. Now, healthcare providers are also risking 1st degree felonies, 100k fines, and potential prison time. When they risk everything, we risk everything.

You cannot completely alleviate this risk, but you can give our healthcare providers and their lawyers some assurance in providing care in time.

Please prioritize our people, safety, and health. Please deprioritize enforcement of Texas’ abortion bans. Pass the GRACE Act – please.

YOUR NAME

YOUR ADDRESS (to prove you’re a Tarrant County constituent)