Texas AG Ken Paxton Wants to Block Public Employees from Making Personal Paycheck Decisions He Doesn’t Like

While Texans were celebrating a new year, state Attorney General Ken Paxton decided to ring in 2020 with an ugly dose of anti-abortion politics. On Jan. 2 he quietly released a formal opinion suggesting that state law bars public employees from having donations to Planned Parenthood deducted from their paychecks. Check out our press release:

TFN President Criticizes Paxton Opinion That Government Employees Can’t Designate Paycheck Deductions for Donations to Planned Parenthood

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 10, 2020

Texas Freedom Network President Kathy Miller today called out Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for issuing an opinion that suggests state law bars government employees from having charitable donations to Planned Parenthood deducted from their paychecks.

“Ken Paxton’s opinion doesn’t come even close to passing the sniff test for credibility,” Miller said. “He simply has a problem with Texans making personal decisions he doesn’t like, whether it’s individuals donating their own money or women deciding for themselves which reproductive health care services and providers they want. Texans don’t need an attorney general who twists the law to force their personal decisions to conform to his extreme anti-abortion politics. It’s past time for politicians like Paxton to mind their own damn business.”

Miller’s comments refer to an attorney general opinion issued on Jan. 2, in which Paxton argues that SB22 passed by legislators last year blocks government employees from designating Planned Parenthood as the recipient of donations deducted from their paychecks. SB22 bars transactions between a governmental entity and an abortion provider or affiliate of the provider.

State employees have donated more than $180 million of their own money to a wide range of causes and organizations through the State Employee Charitable Campaign, which the Legislature created in 1993, according to the SECC website.

###

The Texas Freedom Network is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization building an informed and effective movement for equality and social justice.