Fight over Texas anti-abortion transport bans reaches biggest
battlegrounds yet
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[October 23, 2023]
By Julia Harte
(Reuters) - Two Texas jurisdictions will consider measures this week to
outlaw the act of transporting another person along their roads for an
abortion, part of a strategy by conservative activists to further
restrict abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Commissioners in Lubbock County are slated to vote on the proposal on
Monday. A few hours north, the Amarillo City Council on Tuesday will
weigh its own such law, which could lead to a future council or
city-wide vote.
Lubbock and Amarillo are the biggest jurisdictions of the 10 places in
Texas that have considered restrictions on abortion-related
transportation since the June 2022 end of Roe, which had granted a
nationwide right to abortion. Five cities and counties in the state have
passed bans.
Lubbock and Amarillo are both traversed by major highways that connect
Texas, which has one of the county's most stringent abortion laws, to
neighboring New Mexico, where abortion is legal.
Anti-abortion activists backing the proposals say they are meant to
bolster Texas' existing abortion ban, which allows private citizens to
sue anyone who provides or "aids or abets" an abortion after six weeks
of pregnancy.
Advocates of reproductive rights say the measures could deter people
from seeking abortions or helping others get abortions, even though
there is no clear way to enforce the bans. No violations have been
reported in the five jurisdictions that have adopted them. Their
reliance on citizen enforcement makes them difficult to challenge in
court.
The greater impact of the ordinances so far appears to be how each side
is using them to galvanize voters and pursue bigger political goals
heading into an election year in which abortion remains a hot-button
issue.
BOTH SIDES MOBILIZING
The campaign to ban abortion-related transit in Texas was started by
Mark Lee Dickson, a Christian pastor who began pushing communities to
outlaw abortion by declaring themselves "sanctuary cities for the
unborn" in 2019.
Dickson travels widely to pitch his measures. He also mobilizes
supporters to unseat local leaders who oppose the proposals, with the
aim of electing officials who will also push other far-right policies.
He took that approach in Odessa's city elections in 2022 after the
council initially blocked one of his "sanctuary city for the unborn"
proposals. Dickson responded by marshalling support for council
candidates who pledged to approve it.
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A patient looks at her ultrasound before proceeding with a medical
abortion at Alamo Women's Clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.,
August 23, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
Once elected, the candidates he
backed not only declared Odessa a "sanctuary city," but also adopted
the state's first abortion transport ban and took other steps
Dickson supported, such as rejecting state and federal
COVID-19-related mandates.
"This isn't over just when you address one issue," Dickson said in
an interview.
He plans to be at the meetings in Lubbock and Amarillo this week.
Lubbock County Commissioner Jason Corley said he was inspired to
bring the transport ban to a vote on Monday after hearing Dickson
promote it at Lubbock's Constitutionalist Society. Corley, who has
supported Dickson's work for years, said he expected the measure to
pass.
Not all backers of abortion restrictions support Dickson's transport
bans, however.
Amarillo Mayor Cole Stanley said he supported Dickson's "sanctuary
city" movement, but is concerned that the transport bans rely on
civil enforcement and do not clarify what local authorities are
expected to do, potentially entangling the city in investigations
brought by private actors.
The debates over the transport bans are spurring new shows of
support for abortion access.
In Lubbock County, Kimberleigh Gonzalez is organizing a local
Facebook group of 1,100 reproductive rights supporters to show their
opposition to the measure at Monday's meeting.
The group formed after Lubbock voters approved a "sanctuary city"
ordinance backed by Dickson in May 2021. Each new attack on
reproductive rights "brings us together a little more tightly,"
Gonzalez said.
"Since 2021, I know a lot of people personally that are involved
that weren't before, and it just continues to grow and strengthen,"
she said.
Abortion rights supporters, including four abortion funds in Texas,
said they expected the transport bans to backfire on the
anti-abortion movement by galvanizing political participation from
abortion rights advocates in the lead-up to next year's presidential
election.
"We're going to make sure that there are political and electoral
consequences for this," said Rachel O'Leary Carmona, executive
director of the Women's March activist organization.
(Reporting by Julia Harte; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Leslie
Adler)
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