COOK COUNTY – The county that is home to crime-ridden Chicago, where children are especially vulnerable to gang violence and crime, will likely consider a resolution next week that enacts cancel culture tactics against the state of Texas and any elected officials that supported the state's recently enacted Senate Bill 8 to protect unborn children whose hearts are beating within their mother's wombs.
The resolution would ban non-essential County-funded travel or other travel to Texas for Cook County business and any official business with the State of Texas Government in response to Texas Senate Bill 8; and sever financial ties to any corporations that financially contribute to the campaigns of those that supported the measure.
The sponsors of the proposal are Cook County Commissioners Kevin Morrison, Alma Anaya and Brandon Johnson.
The resolution reads as following:
PROPOSED RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION CONDEMNING TEXAS SENATE BILL 8 AND CALLING ON COOK COUNTY TO USE EVERY TOOL TO SUPPORT REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
WHEREAS, Cook County has been and should continue to be a beacon for those seeking safe, reliable, and comprehensive healthcare including reproductive healthcare; and
WHEREAS, every individual who is able to be pregnant has a right to make the personal decision about their reproductive health and family planning free from government interference; and
WHEREAS, the decision to terminate a pregnancy is deeply personal and is not made lightly; and
WHEREAS, accessing reproductive care is not a crime and should not be treated as such; and
WHEREAS, restricting access to reproductive healthcare hurts everyone but has a disproportionately negative impact on people of color, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ people due to factors such as income, where they live, or societal bias; and
WHEREAS, in 1973 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Roe v. Wade to protect legal rights to safe abortions; and
WHEREAS, the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health non-profit, found that women around the world access abortion services at a statistically same rate whether they are legal and safe or illegal and unregulated ; and
WHEREAS, laws limiting access to reproductive healthcare just forces unsafe and dangerous conditions including potential severe health complications or death; and
WHEREAS, Texas legislators have passed Texas Senate Bill 8 and the Governor of Texas has signed into law legislation that essentially bans abortion after 6 weeks and creates a mechanism that can penalize any person with knowledge of or who offers support to someone seeking an abortion; and
WHEREAS, this draconian and appalling law not only puts the lives of people seeking reproductive healthcare at risk but creates a dangerous bounty system that essentially encourages “vigilante” justice; and
WHEREAS, this villainizes healthcare providers who are simply seeking to provide basic health information as is a tenant of their Hippocratic Oath; and
WHEREAS, this law goes beyond the pale and is counter to settled law and to all public health recommendations; and
WHEREAS, the United States Department of Justice under the Biden Harris Administration has sued the State of Texas to prevent enforcing this law with Attorney General Merrick Garland stating, “The Act is clearly unconstitutional under longstanding Supreme Court precedent.”; and
WHEREAS, it is unacceptable that major corporations, including some that do business with Cook County, helped fund elected officials who authored and sponsored this bill; and
WHEREAS, these same corporations have failed to condemn this attack on reproductive rights; and
WHEREAS, Cook County will continue to serve as a leader supporting access to reproductive services; and
WHEREAS, Cook County residents overwhelmingly support a person’s right to make autonomous decisions about their health; and
WHEREAS, the Cook County Board of Commissioners should support their constituents by responsibly using their taxpayer dollars to do business only with companies that are not funding a war on access to healthcare; and
WHEREAS, Cook County Health should look at every option possible to expand access to reproductive healthcare for anyone who needs it; and
WHEREAS, Cook County Government, as a whole, should ban non-essential County-funded travel or other travel to Texas for Cook County business and any official business with the State of Texas Government in response to Texas Senate Bill 8; and
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the Cook County Board of Commissioners do commit to vote no on all future renewals, extensions, and new contracts with corporations that fund such abhorrent laws that run counter to public health and residents’ rights to healthcare; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we formally request that the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office conduct a legal opinion on options to sever any contract with a corporation that has funded the efforts to pass Texas SB8 or similar laws across the country.
