© Jon Shapley/Staff Photographer

Harris County commissioners approved a $6 million fund to improve access to reproductive health care on Tuesday, including contraception, health screenings, STI testing, family planning and other services in light of the state’s harsh abortion ban. 

In a 4-1 vote, the Democratic-majority court voted to direct $6 million in federal funds to clinics for reproductive care. The lone Republican, Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey, voted against the fund.

“I’m in favor and very proud of it,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said of the new fund on Tuesday. The vote comes after a Monday press conference where Hidalgo and Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis outlined their proposal for the fund alongside Planned Parenthood of Gulf Coast and Harris Public Health officials. 

Ellis said this fund specifically targets residents living in zip codes with the highest social vulnerability index and is the county’s way of expanding care after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

“The Dobbs decision dealt a devastating blow to reproductive freedom and a person’s fundamental right to make their own health and family planning decisions,” Ellis added. “In a state where families already struggle with high maternal mortality rates and access to health care. It is now more dangerous than ever to be pregnant.” 

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over 22 percent of the county population under the age of 65 does not have health insurance, a slightly higher percentage than the state average of 20 percent—and more than double the national average.

According to county officials, $5.3 million dollars of the fund will go to programming for community organizations and $700,000 will go to logistics, Hidalgo said. Harris County Public Health is in charge of managing operations and selecting the organizations that will receive funding. The multi-million dollar proposal will come from the American Rescue Plan Act local recovery fund. 

Officials said this week that the new Harris County program works in two parts. The first is to expand services at Harris County clinics while also funding grassroots organizations that provide these services. The second part is outreach specifically targeting areas in the county with the most uninsured residents. 

Operations are set to start in June, officials added.

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a 50-year precedent, in the summer of 2022. Thirty days later, the Texas trigger law went into effect, banning abortion in the state from the moment of conception with very limited exceptions.

Texas abortion law makes no exceptions for rape and incest; abortions can only be performed if the pregnant person’s life is in danger. That caveat can be blurry and confusing for health care workers. The ban also makes providing an abortion deemed illegal a felony with penalties including life in prison and/or a $100,000 fine.

Just last week, a Galveston area man filed a million-dollar lawsuit against three women he said helped his ex-wife get a medication abortion. Earlier this month, five Texas women filed a lawsuit against the state, saying the strict abortion ban put their lives at risk. 

In addition to one of the largest uninsured populations in the nation, Texas also wrestles with years of racial disparities among pregnant people. Black women especially are disproportionately impacted by the health care system. The delayed Texas maternal report released in December of 2022 showed that various factors, including inadequate health care, underlying conditions, structural racism, and implicit bias by health care providers.

Overall, the report also found that the majority of these pregnancy-related deaths were preventable. 

Harris County Health and Wellness can be found here.