On Tuesday, the City Council of the City of Big Sandy (pop. 1,343), passed an “Ordinance Outlawing Abortion, declaring Big Sandy a Safe Haven for the Unborn” in a unanimous 4-0 vote. The vote made the City of Big Sandy, located between the cities of Hawkins (pop. 1,278) and Gladewater (pop. 6,441) on State Highway 80 and between Winona (pop. 623) and Gilmer (pop. 5,216) on State Highway 155, the 58th city in the State of Texas and the 75th city in the nation to pass an ordinance prohibiting abortion.
After the vote, Mayor Linda Baggett shared, “I am blessed to serve with a City Council that is brave and stands together to protect our precious babies and their mothers. My prayer is that more communities take the same action making all of Texas a SAFE HAVEN FOR THE UNBORN.”
East Texans for Liberty Executive Director Stacy McMahan shared, “I am thankful for Mayor Linda Baggett and the Big Sandy City Council for their unwavering support in preserving innocent life and standing with State Senator Bryan Hughes and House Representative Cole Hefner in the fight for life.”
At the council meeting, Upshur County Republican Party Chairman Carl Byers shared that the majority party of the state of Texas supports the sanctity of innocent unborn human life. Byers referenced Proposition 5 placed before voters in the 2022 Republican Party Primary, which stated, “Texas should enact a state constitutional amendment to defend the sanctity of innocent human life, created in the image of God, from fertilization until natural death.” 83% of Republican Party Primary voters across Texas embraced the statement.
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In Upshur County, the proposition had 92% support. After the council meeting, at Big Sandy’s famous Circle M Crawfish restaurant, Byers shared, “I am so proud of the Big Sandy City Council for voting unanimously for the Pro-Life ordinance that will save innocent life. God Bless Big Sandy.” Byers now wants to see his hometown of Union Grove (pop. 357) become a sanctuary for the unborn.
Big Sandy is the third city in Upshur County to pass such an ordinance and the fourteenth city in the Tyler-Longview Area Region to pass a “Sanctuary City for the Unborn” ordinance. Other cities in the region to have passed such ordinances include: Athens (pop. 13,503), Lindale (pop. 6,923), Rusk (5,664), Gilmer (pop. 5,216), Waskom (pop. 2,190), Naples (pop. 1,378), Omaha (pop. 1,021), East Mountain (pop. 899), Wells (pop. 853), Murchison (pop. 606), Avinger (pop. 371), Gary (pop. 335), and Poynor (pop. 314). Out of all of the cities to have passed the ordinances in Texas, Omaha is the only city to have recanted their ordinance.
Big Sandy’s ordinance is enforced in the same manner as the Texas Heartbeat Act — through a private enforcement mechanism. The ordinance reads, “Any person, other than the city of Big Sandy, and any officer or employee of the city, has standing to bring and may bring a civil action against any person or entity that: violates any provision” of this ordinance. The ordinance does not penalize the mother of the unborn child.
The six provisions of the Big Sandy Safe Haven for the Unborn ordinance: (1) prohibit performing an elective abortion and aiding or abetting elective abortions within the city limits of Big Sandy, (2) prohibit elective abortions on residents of Big Sandy – regardless of where the abortion takes place, (3) prohibit abortion trafficking through the City of Big Sandy, (4) prohibit the mailing of abortion-inducing drugs into the City of Big Sandy, (5) prohibit criminal organizations from doing business inside the city limits of Big Sandy, and (6) prohibit through or in the City of Big Sandy the transportation and disposal of the remains of unborn children who have been killed by an elective abortion across state lines and carried into Texas by waste management companies.
In addition to providing protections for pregnant mothers and their unborn children, the ordinance also educates about the Thriving Texas Families Program and directs people to the Texas Pregnancy Care Network website and The Pregnancy Network website operated by Human Coalition to be connected to these services.
The two other cities in Upshur County to have passed similar ordinances are the cities of Gilmer (pop. 5,216) and East Mountain (pop. 899). The Gilmer City Council adopted their ordinance on September 24, 2019 while the East Mountain City Council adopted their ordinance on July 20, 2020. Other cities in Upshur County which could consider the measure in the future include: Gladewater (pop. 6,441), Ore City (pop. 1,108), Clarksville City (pop. 865), Union Grove (pop. 357), and Warren City (pop. 298).
Big Sandy is not expected to be the last Sanctuary City for the Unborn in Texas, residents from all over the state are packing their local council chambers to advocate for further protections for pregnant mothers and their unborn children to spare them from the tragedy of abortion. Those who are interested in seeing their city pass an ordinance going as far as they can to end abortion are encouraged to sign the online petition found at the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn website.
LifeNews Note: Mark Lee Dickson lives in Texas and is the founder of the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Initiative.
