Love Thy Neighbor billboard put up by the Amarillo Freedom PAC
On the ballot for Amarillo this election cycle is a local measure that would ban travel through the city to receive an abortion somewhere else, which proponents of the measure referred to as “abortion trafficking.” This would also declare the city to be a “sanctuary city for the unborn,” referencing a movement that has been ongoing since 2019 across Texas and has spread into a few other states.
The ballot measure reads as follows:
The Code of Ordinances of the City of Amarillo, Texas shall be amended to adopt an initiated ordinance, submitted by the Amarillo Sanctuary City for the Unborn Citizen Initiative Petition Initiating Committee, declaring the City of Amarillo a sanctuary city for the unborn; declaring that abortion at all times and at all stages of pregnancy is unlawful unless an abortion is performed to save the life of a pregnant woman in a medical emergency; finding that abortion-inducing drugs are declared contraband and it shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture, possess, or distribute abortion-inducing drugs in the City of Amarillo; prohibiting abortions within the City of Amarillo; prohibiting abortions on City of Amarillo residents; prohibiting abortion trafficking of an unborn child; prohibiting abortion-inducing drugs in the City of Amarillo; prohibiting any organization that violates 18 U.S.C. Sections 1461 or 1462 by facilitating abortions from operating or doing business in the City of Amarillo; prohibiting the transportation or disposal in the City of Amarillo of the remains of an unborn child killed by an abortion; providing a private right of action; providing for affirmative defenses; providing for severability and providing an effective date.
Sanctuary for the Unborn ordinances are crafted to fit the local governance of each city or county that enacts them, but they all draw on the same dimensions of state and federal laws for their enforcement. They target the “aiding and abetting” provisions in the Texas Heartbeat Act (SB8) which “authoriz[e] a private civil right of action—” in other words, allowing private citizens to sue other citizens who help people seek abortions either through the mailing of abortion medications or by traveling out of the state for a clinic or medicinal abortion.
The second aspect of these laws that needs our attention is their inclusion of the 18 U. S. C. Sections 1461 or 1462, commonly known as the Comstock Act, that prohibits:
“Every article or thing designed, adapted, or intended for producing abortion, or for any indecent or immoral use; and
Every article, instrument, substance, drug, medicine, or thing which is advertised or described in a manner calculated to lead another to use or apply it for producing abortion, or for any indecent or immoral purpose.”
Why is it important that faith communities across Texas understand the details of proposed local ordinances like the one on the Amarillo ballot? For one, the “aiding and abetting” provisions in these ordinances would directly impact how faith communities and leaders can provide spiritual support for their members who seek abortion care—either at home or in another state. Across the state and nation, faith communities in diverse faith traditions have established ministries that provide financial support or other means for people in their circles to travel for care, and like SB8, these ordinances target those actions through civil penalties. Similarly, the target from these ordinances to ban the mailing of abortion medications like mifepristone, could become a major issue for faith communities that provide things like reproductive health kits that include other forms of contraceptives and Plan B or C pills.
The severe penalties associated with reproductive support ministries could discourage faith communities from continuing these ministries. This would intensify hardships for local residents in need of support, and it would intensify the growing religious freedom concerns associated with Texas’ extreme abortion ban regime.
Supporters of the ordinance told the League of Women Voters (LWV) that it “aims to prevent the abortion trafficking of pregnant women and their unborn children across state lines specifically for elective abortions, while ensuring the rights of these women to travel are fully respected.” However, the ordinance does not include specific language to support that claim, and in fact includes “prohibiting abortions on City of Amarillo residents.” This brings up considerable concerns about the rights of American citizens to travel freely from state to state, and the authority of governments to prevent residents from seeking specific health services—or indeed any type of service—even while the residents are not within the local government’s jurisdiction.
Supporters also told LWV that the ordinance “educates Amarillo residents on the Alternatives to Abortion program which promotes childbirth and provides support services to pregnant mothers and their families.” However, the language included in the proposed measure does not address alternative educational programs or funding, nor does it include any mention of funding for support services to pregnant mothers and their families.
Following 2022, many people wonder “what’s left—we’ve already banned abortion completely,” but these ordinances are a clear red flag for what anti-abortion extremists have in mind for the rest of the country, and for Texas moving forward. Mark Lee Dickson, the founder of Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn, has stated that he wants a national abortion ban, including criminal penalties for women who obtain abortions and for individuals who provide them. SB8’s language was “workshopped” as a local ordinance in Lubbock beginning in 2020, and passed as state legislation in 2021. The ordinance language was tested through a series of legal challenges, which helped proponents tighten the language for the statewide legislation so it would be invulnerable to legal challenges.
While proponents of the Amarillo ordinance argue that the language provides exceptions for ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages, and does not allow individual women who receive abortions to be sued, the ordinance does not provide clear legal barriers for those circumstances. No matter how city residents vote on the ballot measure, it will be telling about what might be coming for reproductive health policies statewide.
If you live in Amarillo or just want to find out more about how people are fighting back against these ordinances, visit amarillorfa.org.