A 13th Texas city voted Thursday to declare itself a “Sanctuary for the Unborn” and ban abortions.
The city council of Whiteface, population 449, in western Texas, voted 3-2 to pass the pro-life ordinance amid strong public support, The Texan reports.
The city leaders stood strong despite a recent lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union against several other Texas cities with “Sanctuary for the Unborn” ordinances.
The pro-life ordinances recognize that unborn babies are valuable human beings who deserve to be protected under the law. They prohibit abortions within city limits and prevent abortion businesses from opening there. The ordinances also penalize abortionists for aborting unborn babies, but they do not penalize women who seek or have abortions.
All but one Whiteface resident spoke up in favor of the pro-life ordinance, according to the local news.
The council also read a letter from an anonymous local resident who chose life for her baby after being drugged and raped at a party. Though doctors urged her to consider an abortion, she said she chose life for her daughter.
“Every time I look at her, I’m reminded of God’s grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness for being in a place that I never should have been,” the letter stated. “This little girl has made me more than a mother. She’s made me stronger in my walk with God. She’s in the top of her class. Soon, she’ll graduate with honors. She’s my beauty from ashes, and forever grateful for my choices to not choose abortion.”
Watch the full letter being read here.
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Here’s more from the report:
[The one opposing resident] cited concern about lawsuits, but as Right to Life of East Texas director Mark Lee Dickson pointed out, the cities involved in the ACLU lawsuit are being represented at no cost to the cities by Jonathan Mitchell, the former solicitor general for the state of Texas.
The ACLU lawsuit did not deter residents’ resolve either, with one supporter of the ordinance saying, “God is bigger than the ACLU.”
Several citizens supported the ordinance at the meeting, sharing personal experiences that have strengthened their support for the life of the unborn.
The city of Wells in eastern Texas became the 12th city to pass a Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance in February, following Big Spring in West Texas, Rusk, Waskom, Naples, Joaquin, Tenaha, Gilmer and Westbrook. Omaha also passed an ordinance but later retracted it and passed a non-enforceable resolution instead.
These ordinances are particularly important because Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion business in the nation, confirmed that it is looking to expand in West Texas, Texas Right to Life told LifeNews.com earlier this year.
Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas received an anonymous donation of $9 million in 2019 for the purpose of building two West Texas abortion facilities. Also, Planned Parenthood currently has a billboard campaign in Abilene, San Angelo, and other neighboring cities.
The “Sanctuary for the Unborn” ordinance states: “the Supreme Court erred in Roe v. Wade, when it said that pregnant women have a constitutional right to abort their unborn children, as there is no language anywhere in the Constitution that even remotely suggests that abortion is a constitutional right . . . constitutional scholars have excoriated Roe v. Wade for its lack of reasoning and its decision to concoct a constitutional right to abortion that has no textual foundation in the Constitution or any source of law.”
Some lawyers have warned towns about passing the ordinances because of a potential legal challenge. The U.S. Supreme Court took away the power of state and local governments to protect unborn babies from abortion through Roe v. Wade.
But Dickson told LifeNews that the ordinances take this into account. He said the ordinances have “a public enforcement mechanism and a private enforcement mechanism. The public enforcement mechanism is about future enforcement.”
He said the public enforcement part fines abortionists $2,000 per abortion, but the penalty only would be enforced when Roe v. Wade is overturned.
“In other words, if you break the law today, you could be penalized for that crime years from now,” Dickson said. “The private enforcement mechanism does not have to wait upon the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and is in effect immediately. This part of the ordinance is about private lawsuits. When a child is killed by abortion, the family of that child … can sue the abortionist, the one who paid for the abortion, the one who drove the mother to the abortion, etc.”
A growing number of towns and cities have passed ordinances and resolutions to protect the unborn. An ordinance is a municipal government law or regulation. A resolution is a statement of support or opposition, but it is not legally enforceable.
In 2019, Roswell, New Mexico city leaders passed a pro-life resolution after state lawmakers considered a radical pro-abortion bill to expand late-term abortions. The bill narrowly failed to pass.
In New York state, Batavia city leaders and Putnam County legislators also passed resolutions condemning a radical new pro-abortion law in their state and supporting protections for the unborn.
Also in 2019, the Riverton City Council in Utah passed a similar resolution, declaring the city a “sanctuary for the unborn.” The Utah County Commission unanimously voted in favor of a resolution supporting protections for unborn babies. The council in Highland, Utah and the city of Springdale, Arkansas also approved pro-life resolutions last summer.
