A Cook County commissioner called on the county Wednesday to explore whether it can sever contracts with companies found to have donated to sponsors of Texas’ abortion ban, arguing that such businesses are “funding a war” against reproductive health.
Commissioner Kevin Morrison, a Democrat from Schaumburg, sent a letter to Cook County State’s attorney Kim Foxx’s civil actions bureau chief requesting a legal opinion on whether the county can terminate those agreements.
He also plans to introduce a resolution at the Cook County Board meeting Thursday asking his fellow commissioners to commit to voting no on future contracts, renewals or extensions with such corporations — and to potentially stop visiting the Lone Star state for official, government-funded Cook County business.
Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison at a board meeting in 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
A spokeswoman for Foxx said she could not comment, “as any request for advice made by our client would be privileged, as would be any advice that we provide.”
The text of Morrison’s measure reads: “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 health care.”
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“I view any company that supports taking away the reproductive freedoms that are constitutionally guaranteed to our residents as incredibly offensive,” Morrison said in a phone interview. “And I think we need to make a statement.”
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The Texas law in question, Senate Bill 8, bans most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, when women usually cannot tell they’re pregnant, and with no exceptions for rape or incest. The law also allows private citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone who “aids and abets” a procedure. The law went into effect at the start September after the Supreme Court declined to block what then became the most restrictive abortion law in the country.
In response, some have blasted major corporations for contributing to Republican politicians who backed SB8 — including Dallas-based AT&T, which the women’s rights group UltraViolet said had given nearly $300,000 to the law’s sponsors in 2020 alone.
AT&T has mostly stayed mum on the controversy and did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Tribune, though it released a statement to late-night talk show “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” this month saying the company had also donated to opponents of SB8 and does not have a stance on abortion, according to The Wrap.
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But Morrison said contributions to backers of the abortion ban should disqualify corporations from being in business with Cook County. Should Foxx’s office issue an opinion in his favor, he said, one of the agreements the county should consider exiting is a $35 million contract with the telecommunications giant, approved for 2017 to 2022 with the option of two one-year renewals.
“They have not stood up against this unconstitutional policy and I think that’s reprehensible,” Morrison said about AT&T.
If the county is unable to legally exit the contracts, Morrison said he will consider pushing for the agreements to be rebid at the end of their terms. He also would recommend requirements for future contracts to be with businesses aligned with the values of Cook County’s population, he said.
Under Cook County’s contract procurement policy, the “lowest responsive and responsible bidder” should be chosen to ensure the most competitive option wins.
Morrison’s resolution heads to a committee on Thursday and will be addressed at October’s board meeting.
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“It is really disappointing that we even have to be having this conversation in the first place,” Morrison said. “It’s important that we show our residents that something they overwhelmingly support, which are reproductive freedoms, that as a county, we stand with them.”
The request to Foxx’s office comes as the progressive state’s attorney herself already moved to legally protect abortion rights. She joined nearly 100 current and ex-prosecutors in filing an amicus brief this week condemning any potential overturning of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark Supreme Court ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion.
Meanwhile, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has fought against Texas’ abortion ban through other means. A Chicago economic development arm she heads purchased an ad in the Dallas Morning News earlier this month inviting corporations there to relocate to Chicago, where there are liberal abortion and voting laws. The latter was a shot at another Texas law, also signed this month, adding voting restrictions that critics say could erode minority turnout.
ayin@chicagotribune.com
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