Texas GOP to Stop Law Firms From Paying for Abortion Travel and Expenses

• The Texas Freedom Caucus sent a letter to the legislation company Sidley Austin LLP. 
• The letter said legislation will be introduced to prohibit law firms from having to pay for abortion travel.
• “Carry out yourselves accordingly,” the letter cautioned.

The Texas Flexibility Caucus, a legislative caucus in the Texas Property of Associates, sent a threatening letter to a law company with spots in Dallas and Houston that prepared to reimburse travel charges for workers seeking an abortion.

In the letter, which was dealt with to Sidley Austin LLP, the 11 associates of the caucus wrote that laws will be introduced to impose civil and criminal sanctions on regulation companies that pay out for abortion or abortion journey.

“We are composing to inform you of the outcomes that you and your colleagues will deal with for these steps,” it claimed.

The proposed legislation will prohibit any employer in the point out from paying out for elective abortions or reimbursing abortion-similar costs regardless of where the abortion takes place. According to these lawmakers, non-public citizens will be allowed to sue anyone who pays for an elective abortion performed on a Texas resident. 

If handed, the legislation will grant The State Bar of Texas to disbar any attorney who has violated any abortion statutes. 

The Texas Independence Caucus claimed Sidley had aided or abetted drug-induced abortions that violate the Texas Heartbeat Act, a legislation that bans abortions at about six months of being pregnant. According to the letter, litigation is previously underway to identify employees who might have been involved.

“To the extent that Sidley is facilitating abortions executed in violation of article 4512.1, it is exposing by itself and each individual of its associates to felony legal prosecution and disbarment.”

In accordance to an electronic mail seen by Bloomberg Legislation, Sidley explained it would cover abortions and connected journey charges for staff members in states in which constraints are likely into result. 

On June 24, the Supreme Court docket overturned Roe v. Wade, a legal precedent from 1973 that designed abortion authorized across the US. 

Previous 12 months, Condition Senate Invoice 8 took influence in Texas which outlawed abortion all over six weeks of gestation, even in situations of rape and incest. The latest ruling will build criminal penalties for all those who conduct or assist abortions at all stages of being pregnant. 

The letter was supported by the 11 conservative Texas lawmakers and concluded: “Conduct yourselves accordingly.”

Sidley Austin LLP and The Texas Flexibility Caucus did not immediately answer to Insider’s request for remark.