Texas Planned Parenthood leaders said their Lubbock facility will “remain open” after voters in the city approved a Sanctuary for the Unborn ordinance to ban abortions.
The facility, which opened last fall in Lubbock, aborts unborn babies and has some non-abortion services. It is not clear if Planned Parenthood will comply with the ordinance and stop aborting unborn babies.
Axios reports Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas responded to the vote Monday, saying it is “carefully reviewing what the impacts of the ordinance may be.”
“Our doors will remain open to patients,” the pro-abortion group said. However, it added that the ordinance will create “significant barriers and the need to travel a minimum 600 mile round trip or out of state to obtain an abortion.”
On Saturday, Lubbock residents voted to make their city the largest in America to pass a Sanctuary for the Unborn ordinance and ban abortions, joining 25 other cities in Texas and Nebraska. Residents voted 62 percent in favor of the pro-life ordinance, according to unofficial election results, Fox 44 News reports.
Now, the big question is if Planned Parenthood will stop aborting unborn babies or challenge the ordinance in court. In its statement Monday, the abortion chain said it “will make decisions soon regarding the availability of abortion services in Lubbock.”
“We remain committed to advocating for access to abortion for any Texan, including here in Lubbock,” it said.
However, Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas also predicted that the ordinance will reduce access to abortion – meaning it will help save unborn babies’ lives.
In an interview with the pro-abortion site Jezebel, Drucilla Tigner, ACLU of Texas political strategist, said, “There’s no doubt in my mind that this ordinance is going to have a chilling effect on abortion access in Lubbock.”
Here’s more from the report:
Tigner pointed to the radical provisions in the ordinance that allow for private citizens to file lawsuits against providers as well as against people who offer material support to abortion seekers—essentially giving private citizens enforcement powers.
The ordinance may go into effect as soon as June 1, according to city leaders.
The 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.
It also defines an abortion as “the act of using or prescribing an instrument, a drug, a medicine, or any other substance, device, or means with the intent to cause the death of an unborn child of a woman known to be pregnant.”
The ordinance has both public and private enforcement mechanisms. 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.
To-date, 25 other cities in Texas and Nebraska also have passed Sanctuary for the Unborn ordinances, and more are considering them this spring.
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.
