Voters in Lubbock, Texas have approved a ballot measure to ban abortions and make the city a “Sanctuary for the Unborn.” Lubbock becomes the largest city in America to pass such a measure banning abortions and one of two dozen Texas cities to have adopted the ordinance.
The measure reads: “The code of ordinances of the City of Lubbock shall be amended by enacting an ordinance outlawing abortion within the City of Lubbock, declaring Lubbock a sanctuary city for the unborn, making various provision and findings, providing for severability, repealing conflicting ordinances, and establishing an effective date.”
The proposition was approved with 62% of the vote, according to the unofficial tally from Lubbock County. It’s unclear when it would go into effect.
The proposed Sanctuary for the Unborn ordinance recognizes that unborn babies are valuable human beings who deserve to be protected under the law. It prohibits abortions within city limits and outlines legal consequences for abortionists who abort unborn babies. It does not penalize women who seek or have abortions, and it does not prohibit abortions when the mother’s life is at risk.
“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 states.
Texas Right to Life, which has been behind many of the measures in the state, told LifeNews.com it was excited about the victory.
“This is a HUGE victory! Citizens of Lubbock, Texas, voted today to make their town a Sanctuary City for the Unborn,” it said. “This means that abortion will be illegal in the town. Lubbock is by far the LARGEST city yet to pass this life-saving ordinance.”
Pro-life advocates were especially motivated after a Planned Parenthood facility opened in Lubbock last fall and began aborting unborn babies earlier this month.
Click here to sign up for pro-life news alerts from LifeNews.com
“They’re murdering babies here in our city,” Jim Baxa of West Texas for Life told the Tribune. “We need to stop that.”
Texas Right to Life explained more about what the new pro-life law will do.
“Pro-Life citizens like you petitioned the Lubbock City Council to pass an ordinance making the community a Sanctuary City for the Unborn. Despite the calls from activists and locals, and the announcement that Planned Parenthood would begin committing abortions in 2021 within Lubbock city limits, the mayor and city council torpedoed the effort,” Texas Right to Life said. “The Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance that passed today is pertinent and enforceable, challenging Planned Parenthood’s presence within Lubbock. Abortionists will be liable to civil lawsuits and criminal penalties upon the reversal of Roe v. Wade. Under this ordinance, women who may be seeking abortions are protected from any penalties and are in no way criminally or civilly liable.”
In November, the Lubbock City Council rejected the pro-life ordinance, but because of a citizen-led petition, residents had the opportunity to approve the ordinance Saturday on the election ballot.
Many Lubbock churches became involved in the effort to protect unborn babies. Pastor David Wilson of Southcrest Baptist Church said it is encouraging to see so many Christians of various denominations unite for the cause.
“If this was a tax issue, the churches wouldn’t be involved in this, obviously,” he told the news outlet. “But moral issue has to do with life, and we believe that life is a gift from God.”
Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood and other abortion advocacy groups were trying to persuade Lubbock to reject the ordinance by going door to door and calling voters, according to the report.
But Mark Lee Dickson, director with Right to Life of East Texas and leader of the Sanctuary for the Unborn effort, said the opposition was been misleading voters. He said the ordinance clearly states that exceptions are allowed if the mother’s life is at risk, and miscarriages are not abortions.
Emphasizing that the ordinance affirms and protects life, Dickson told LifeNews, “This vote may very well be the most important vote the citizens of Lubbock will ever cast in their lifetime.”
Local pro-life leaders noted that most of their support has come from city residents while abortion activists were largely relying on outside donations to support their efforts to defeat the ordinance.
Research by local pro-life advocate David McCay found that the vast majority of donations to Project Destiny Lubbock, the pro-life nonprofit created to support a “yes” vote on the ordinance, came from Lubbock citizens. In contrast, almost all of the money donated to the pro-abortion Lubbock Coalition For Healthcare Access came from other cities and states, according to public documents on political contributions that both organizations submitted to the city.
According to the documents, the pro-life group received $120,199 in donations as of April 1, and Lubbock citizens donated $111,549 of the total. In contrast, the pro-abortion coalition reported $121,047.63 in donations as of April 1, only $1,650 of which was donated by Lubbock citizens, according to the documents. The rest was donated by pro-abortion groups and individuals in New York, Saint Louis, Baltimore, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin and other Texas cities.
Dickson said the people of Lubbock are supporting mothers and babies in need as well as the ordinance. For example, on Tuesday, he said the pro-life club Raiders Defending Life at Texas Tech University gave out 14 scholarships to pregnant and parenting students.
“Friends, THIS is what represents the beliefs and values of Lubbock, Texas!” he said.
Abortion activists have tried to stop the Sanctuary for the Unborn effort, but, last year, pro-lifers won a victory when the American Civil Liberties Union dropped its lawsuit challenging Sanctuary for the Unborn ordinances in seven other Texas cities.
Previously, Dickson said the ordinance was written to withstand a legal challenge. It includes a public enforcement mechanism and a private enforcement mechanism. The public enforcement mechanism establishes fines against the abortionist and anyone who helps with an abortion within city limits. However, it cannot be enforced until Roe v. Wade is overturned.
However, the private enforcement mechanism is immediate. It makes abortionists and those who help them “liable in tort to a surviving relative of the aborted unborn child, including the unborn child’s mother, father, grandparents, siblings or half-siblings,” meaning the abortionist can be sued for aborting the unborn child.
Other cities that have passed pro-life ordinances include Blue Hill and Hayes Center in Nebraska, and Murchison, Gorman, Carbon, Grapeland, New Home, East Mountain, Whiteface, Wells, Big Spring, Rusk, Waskom, Naples, Joaquin, Tenaha, Gilmer and Westbrook in Texas. Pro-lifers in Naples, Florida also are urging their city leaders to pass a Sanctuary for the Unborn ordinance.
