Amarillo’s Ambitious Anti-Abortion Proposal
In Amarillo, Texas, residents are pushing for a controversial new law: banning the use of city roads by people seeking abortions in other states. Despite abortion being illegal in Texas, this proposal aims to further restrict access by targeting interstate travel.
Legal hurdles and enforcement challenges
Critics dismiss these laws as grandstanding and extremist, citing their legal dubiousness and near-impossibility to enforce. Nonetheless, such measures are proliferating across conservative locales. Highways through Amarillo connect Texas with New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas, where abortion remains legal.
Sanctuary cities for the Unborn
Mark Lee Dickson, founder of Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn, asserts, “We’re experiencing all these horrors, like abortion trafficking.” Typically, “sanctuary city” refers to towns protecting undocumented immigrants, but conservatives are repurposing the term to restrict local abortion rights. Some cities have outlawed abortion within city limits, even in states where it’s already banned.
Since the 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning the federal right to abortion, states are individually crafting regulations. Texas, with one of the strictest bans, offers no exceptions for rape or incest and vague medical exceptions challenged in court.
Dickson argues that there are “loopholes” allowing abortions across state lines, deeming it “murder.” About a dozen Texas jurisdictions have passed abortion travel bans, criticized as the work of “religious extremists” by the Amarillo Reproductive Freedom Alliance.
The Amarillo proposal would let private citizens sue anyone transporting a pregnant woman seeking an abortion, a controversial approach seen in other abortion laws to avoid judicial hurdles. However, it’s unclear how this would work, given it might infringe on Americans’ right to free movement.
The Amarillo city council has postponed action on the measure, promising a review in June, though it might be delayed to November. Mayor Cole Stanley, while identifying as pro-life, warned of potential lawsuits and government overreach.
A Divisive issue
Ahead of the November presidential election, abortion remains a hot-button issue. Local travel bans are divisive; Lubbock County approved one, while Clarendon rejected a similar proposal. Amarillo resident Courtney Brown voices concerns about imposing beliefs on others, while Robin Ross questions the ease of taking a life.
Even within the anti-abortion camp, there’s dissent. James, a retiree, remarks, “Nobody likes to see people have abortions, but when you’re putting in an ordinance that is not enforceable and makes people turn against each other… that’s a big no.”