What is Texas Senate Bill 33?
SB 33 would further erode local control by prohibiting municipalities and counties from using public funds for practical support services related to abortion, even when such support does not directly fund abortion procedures. This includes essential services such as travel, lodging, meals, and childcare. These are critical resources that help individuals access reproductive healthcare outside of Texas. Given that abortion is now completely banned in the state, SB 33 serves as an additional barrier, targeting Texans who must leave the state for legal medical care.
The following is testimony given by Emily Witt, Texas Freedom Network Senior Comms & Media Strategist, on March 27, 2025, as the bill was heard by the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee:
Hello, I’m Emily Witt, a representative of the Texas Freedom Network, an organization of parents, clergy, young people, and other Texans who support reproductive freedom and access to abortion.
TFN strongly opposes SB 33.
Texas has one of the most extreme abortion bans in the nation, and our access to abortion was stolen long before the fall of Roe, when this very Senate passed SB 8, the state’s six-week abortion ban.
Without the right to abortion, we do not have freedom over our own bodies, the freedom to build our own futures, or the freedom to make the best healthcare decisions for ourselves and our families.
Everyone, no matter the zip code they live in, the color of their skin, or immigration status, deserves access to the full spectrum of reproductive healthcare, including abortion, yet we know that abortion bans continue to harm historically underrepresented communities.
Texans who need abortion care now have to travel thousands of miles to access it, stay multiple days in another state, and pay for these costs out of pocket.
These barriers are nearly insurmountable if you already have children at home, are living paycheck to paycheck, cannot afford to take time off, or are suffering from a medical emergency because lawmakers have banned the care you need.
When extremist lawmakers in this state chose to sell our freedoms for votes, city officials across Texas chose to honor their duty to serve Texans and find legal, innovative, and equitable ways to ease the burden our community faces when seeking abortion care.
SB 33 is yet another example of the “party of small government’s” hypocrisy. This bill represents massive overreach into local governance, blocking the ability of municipalities to provide travel assistance and logistical support to Texans who have been forced to flee the state for healthcare because of this very body’s decisions.
Let our local governments do their jobs and care for their constituents. We urge this committee to vote no on SB 33.
