Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News

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Philadelphia and its Democrat mayor have been haled into court over a proposed half-million-dollar donation to a group that provides financial assistance and other resources to women seeking abortions in Pennsylvania.

According to a press release from the Thomas More Society, a conservative and Roman Catholic public-interest law firm based in Chicago, a pair of Philadelphia citizens have sued the City of Philadelphia, Mayor James Kenney, Treasurer Jaqueline Dunn, and Controller Rebecca Rhynhart to prevent the city from giving $500,000 to Abortion Liberation Fund of PA.

“The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania prohibits its funds from being spent on abortion, with rare exceptions,” Thomas More Society Special Counsel Thomas Breth said in a statement. “Yet the mayor of Philadelphia is giving an unrestricted half million dollars to an organization for the expressed purpose of funding abortions.”

Breth added, “This move by the mayor is contrary to state law, and our clients intend to stop it.”

Kenney announced the planned donation in early August is meant, he said, to provide more autonomy to women, particularly those who live in poverty.

“Even before the Supreme Court’s decision this year, anti-abortion restrictions have made it far too difficult for people to access safe and often life-saving procedures,” Kenney said in a statement, “because public insurance won’t cover it and the costs of the procedure — to say nothing of traveling to a clinic, taking time off from work, childcare, and other financial considerations — are prohibitive.”

The abortion fund’s organizers applauded the move, although stressed that they desired more to be done. One assumes this means more money to be given to the fund or money allocated to the funding of abortion broadly as, strictly speaking, abortion remains legal in Pennsylvania.

“This money is not the end of state-led reproductive oppression,” the group said in a statement. “We are excited to use this municipal funding to expand our budget so we can continue the opportunity to continue providing financial support, especially in a time when abortion is increasingly criminalized and inaccessible.”

The crux of the legal argument will center on how the money was acquired and if state or city law hold preeminence over the money’s use. The distinction is important as, if the court finds that the city law should prevail, Kenney and company will have acted legally.

While Pennsylvania state law prohibits taxpayer funds from being spent on abortions, no such ordinance exists in Philadelphia.

Kenney’s donation will be made from the city’s general fund, which the plaintiffs say contains state funds and/or federal funds that were channeled through the state to the city, making the donation a violation of state law. Specifically, the plaintiffs argue that it is impossible for Kenney to prove that none of the $500,000 originated from the state, so it’s fair to assume at least some did, which would subject the money to state law.  

“This move by the mayor is clearly politically motivated,” Breth said. “It’s not that Philadelphia has an extra half million laying around to spend.”

Breth pointed to a March 2022 announcement by city budget director Marisa Waxman, who warned that federal funds were keeping the city afloat.

WHYY-TV, a Philadelphia PBS station, reported at the time that federal recovery funds had allowed the city to balance its budget, but cited officials who warned fiscal struggles could arise once the federal money is exhausted.

As of this writing, neither the City of Philadelphia nor any of its officials had offered a response to the pending litigation.

The initial court filing can be read here.