Lubbock, Texas, Weighs Ordinance Outlawing Abortion Within City Limits
The mayor and city council of Lubbock are weighing whether their city should become the 15th “Sanctuary City for the Unborn” in the state of Texas.
If Lubbock officials approve, the city would become the largest of the Texas towns to outlaw abortion within their boundaries.
Currently, the issue for the Lubbock officials is pressing, since Planned Parenthood announced in July it is planning to return to Lubbock with the opening of a new facility later this year.
Several Planned Parenthood clinics in west Texas closed in 2013, but a $9 million donation helped the abortion giant unveil its plans to rebuild in the region.
According to the press release, Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas has posted job openings for the Lubbock clinic.
“In light of the history of harassment by extremists opposed to Planned Parenthood’s mission, it is our ongoing policy to not comment on health center projects for security reasons until they are completed,” the announcement read. “Additional information, including health center opening date, location, and list of health services, will be shared when finalized.”
The Texanreported Friday the announcement caught the attention of Texas Sen. Charles Perry, a Republican from Lubbock, who launched a petition to block the abortion provider from the city.
The petition reads:
Let’s Keep Planned Parenthood Out of Lubbock
Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, is hiring staff for a Lubbock location. Two years ago, they made their plans known to re-enter West Texas and they have made good on that promise. We need to stand strong and send a clear message that the abortion industry should not set up shop in our backyard. Unborn children should have the right to live and Planned Parenthood profits off ending their lives. This is unacceptable.
Additionally, Perry asked Mayor Dan Pope to pass the ordinance that would declare Lubbock a “Sanctuary City for the Unborn.”
The ordinance, which is the creation of Mark Lee Dickson, director of Right to Life East Texas, has already been passed in 14 Texas towns that have now officially banned abortion, except to save the life of the mother, within their boundaries.
Dickson is a pastor and the founder of the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn initiative.
“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,” the ordinance reads and states further:
The Supreme Court’s pronouncements in Roe v. Wade and subsequent cases may limit the ability of State officials to impose penalties on those who violate the Texas abortion statutes, but they do not veto or erase the statutes themselves, which continue to exist as the law of Texas until they are repealed by the legislature that enacted them.
“The Supreme Court doesn’t make laws, they issue opinions,” Dickson explained to the Texan. “If Roe v. Wade was the law of the land, then why is Joe Biden saying he’ll make it federal law if elected?”
On Monday, Dickson wrote at Caprock Patriot that officials of Lubbock “have an opportunity before them: to stop the murder of innocent children before it happens.”
He added that Perry and Lubbock State Reps. Dustin Burrows (R) and John Frullo (R) wrote to Pope about Planned Parenthood’s intention to open its clinic, “We respectfully request that the City of Lubbock take all necessary actions to prevent them from opening, since this organization profits off ending the lives of unborn children.”
“The battlefield to protect the unborn has shifted from the state to the local arena in recent years,” the state delegation’s letter continued. “For that reason, passing an ordinance designating Lubbock as a Sanctuary City for the Unborn will help to continue the Texas belief that life begins at conception, while also protecting the safety of mothers.”
Dickson explained the ordinance contains two “enforcement mechanisms,” one public and one private.
“While the public enforcement mechanism is dependent upon the overturning of Roe v. Wade the private enforcement mechanism is immediately enforceable,” he wrote. “It is not reliant on the overturning of Roe v. Wade.”
The ordinance provides the private enforcement mechanism by stating:
Any person, corporation, or entity that commits an unlawful act . . . other than the mother of the unborn child that has been aborted, shall be liable in tort to the unborn child’s mother, father, grandparents, siblings and half-siblings. The person or entity that committed the unlawful act shall be liable to each surviving relative of the aborted unborn child for: (a) Compensatory damages, including damages for emotional distress; (b) Punitive damages; and (c) Costs and attorneys’ fees.
“If the ordinance is enacted by the Lubbock City Council it will not just impact the City of Lubbock, but also the surrounding cities,” Dickson wrote.