Largest City Yet Declares Itself a Sanctuary for the Unborn

On Saturday, the West Texas city of Lubbock voted to declare itself a “sanctuary city for the unborn,” making it the 26th state in the United States to do so.

According to Mark Lee Dickson of the Right to Life Committee of East Texas, the vote was 62.64% (21,400 votes) in favor of the ordinance and 37.54% (12,860 votes) opposed.

The ordinance reads, “It shall be unlawful for any person to procure or perform an abortion of any type and at any stage of pregnancy in the City of Lubbock, Texas … It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly aid or abet an abortion that occurs in the City of Lubbock, Texas.” 

“The victory is significant to many as the City of Lubbock is the 11th most populated city in the State of Texas and the 83rd most populated city in the United States,” Dickson wrote. “Lubbock is also home to Texas Tech University, the seventh largest university by enrollment in the State of Texas.”

Breitbart News reports:

Lubbock’s mayor and city council considered the ordinance after sufficient signatures were gathered from Lubbock citizens to allow for a city council vote. The council ultimately voted 7-0 against the ordinance, reasoning that the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade is considered by many to be the “law of the land.”

However, since the vote of the council, as Dickson wrote, was “forced by the Initiative and Referendum process, this allowed for Lubbock residents to take the opportunity to get the ordinance on the ballot and to vote on the ordinance themselves on May 1, 2021.”

…

Planned Parenthood began performing abortions at its Lubbock facility on April 15.

“Because the Lubbock Ordinance that outlaws abortion was passed after abortions were offered in Lubbock, this makes Lubbock the first city in the nation to pass an ordinance outlawing abortion in a city where abortions are already being committed,” said Dickson.

He noted the following:

If the City of Lubbock faces a lawsuit as a result of the ordinance, Attorney Jonathan F. Mitchell, the former Solicitor General of Texas, has offered to represent the city at no cost to the city or taxpayers. In May 2020, when seven cities in East Texas that had passed the ordinance were sued by the ACLU, Mitchell represented the cities, and after three months, the ACLU withdrew its lawsuit. The lawsuit cost the cities and taxpayers nothing — and abortion remains outlawed in every city that was sued.

Prolife Update Staff