Leary, Texas Considers Sanctuary City for the Unborn Ordinance

On Monday, August 4, the City Council of Leary, Texas (pop. 605) considered an “Ordinance Outlawing Abortion, declaring Leary a Sanctuary City for the Unborn.” The city, located on Interstate 30 and United States Hwy 82 between the cities of Hooks (pop. 2,769) and Nash (pop. 4,230), is another strategic location in the fight against abortion trafficking in Texas.

Mayor B.J. Martin presided over the meeting with council members Jeff Cowgill, Coy Lorance, Kent Markham and Jesse Mauldin in attendance. One council member was absent from the meeting. Presentations were made in support of the measure, from Right to Life Across Texas, the Bowie County Republican Party, and a former councilman of eight years for the City of Joaquin, Texas (pop. 850). While the City Council tabled the measure until their next City Council meeting, the Leary City Council members had several questions about the proposed measure.

Hasn’t Texas Already Outlawed Abortion?

The first question asked by Councilman Coy Lorance was about the status of Texas pro-life laws outlawing abortion. While it is true that abortion was outlawed from the point of conception by Texas’ pre-Roe v. Wade criminal abortion statutes and the Human Life Protection Act, and from the point of a detectable heartbeat by the Texas Heartbeat Act, there is still more work to be done in protecting pregnant mothers and their unborn children from the tragedy of abortion. Right now, our current state law does nothing to punish individuals who traffic pregnant mothers across state lines for the purpose of abortion. It only outlaws and criminalizes abortions that occur within Texas. State law has no provisions protecting the unborn residents of our state who are taken to other states and murdered by out-of-state abortion providers. Current state law also has no provisions enforcing the federal Comstock Act’s prohibitions and the shipment and receipt of abortion-related paraphernalia.

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Texas Senators and Representatives have acknowledged that there is more work to be done in the fight against abortion in a post-Roe Texas. In August 2023, twenty Texas Senators and Representatives penned a letter in support of cities and counties passing ordinances outlawing abortion across the State of Texas. The letter read: “Currently there are over 50 political subdivisions in Texas which have passed local ordinances prohibiting abortion within their jurisdictions. As elected officials who voted for state legislation allowing these local actions, we are thrilled to see this wave of pro-life action at the local level and hope to see these ordinances continue to spread across our state – even in a post-Roe Texas. While it is true that abortion is outlawed in the entire State of Texas, from the point of conception, our work is far from over. Right now, throughout the State of Texas, women are being trafficked across our borders by abortion traffickers funded by abortion trafficking organizations still operating in our state. As a result, these women are being abused and traumatized by abortion across our Texas–New Mexico border and sent back to Texas for our cities and counties to deal with the aftermath taking place in our homes, our schools, our churches, and our hospitals.” The elected representatives continued, “The Sanctuary for the Unborn ordinances seek to protect these institutions by putting safeguards in place to protect men, women, and their children for years to come. These ordinances, which seek to close as many loopholes as possible, do not penalize women who seek or undergo abortions, but places the penalty on the party who most deserves it – the abortionist and the industry profiting from the unjust procedure, including abortion traffickers.”

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, twenty-five political subdivisions in the State of Texas have passed ordinances further protecting pregnant mothers and their unborn children from abortion. Two political subdivisions have passed “Sanctuary for the Unborn” ordinances since the start of Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s first special session of the 89th Texas Legislature, where he has called on the Senate and House to pass “Legislation further protecting unborn children and their mothers from the harm of abortion.”

How would the Leary SCFTU Ordinance be enforced?

Another question asked by Councilman Coy Lorance was how the ordinance would be enforced. The proposed Leary SCFTU Ordinance would be enforceable the same way the Texas Heartbeat Act is enforceable, through a private enforcement mechanism allowing private citizens to file civil lawsuits against anyone in violation of the law. Like the Texas Heartbeat Act, the ordinance cannot be enforced by the city or by law enforcement in any way. Here are a few examples of how the law could be enforced:

If the father of an unborn child learned that his unborn baby’s mother was being transported to an abortion provider in Kansas in a way which would violate a provision of the Leary SCFTU Ordinance, a well-documented and recorded call could be made to the abortion provider informing them that, by committing the abortion, that provider could be sued for $10,000 for each violation of the ordinance.

Alternatively, or in addition to such action, an attorney could warn the abortion provider of the consequences of violating the law by letter via fax, email, or individuals on-site. If the abortion provider does not want to risk being sued, the provider could cancel the abortion appointment. The end-goal of this law is not to sue the abortion provider, but to see the appointment canceled and the life of the unborn child spared. However, if the abortionist attempts or does commit the abortion, ending the life of the unborn child, the provider could face the consequences for their actions in the district courts of Texas.

Likewise, with the Leary SCFTU Ordinance in place, the father of the unborn child would have the threat of legal action on his side to dissuade an abortion trafficker from aiding and abetting an abortion, which would be illegal under the laws of the City of Leary.

The same applies if a mother finds out her daughter was sent abortion-inducing drugs in the mail. She could confiscate the abortion-inducing drugs from her daughter, preserve the evidence, and file a lawsuit against whoever sent the abortion-inducing drugs to her daughter. Note that the pregnant daughter herself would not face having a lawsuit filed against her, as the proposed Leary SCFTU Ordinance specifically states, “Under no circumstance may the woman upon whom the abortion was performed, or the pregnant woman who seeks to abort her unborn child, be subject to prosecution or penalty.”

Does the Leary SCFTU Ordinance contain exceptions?

Councilman Coy Lorance also asked if the proposed measure had any exceptions. The proposed Leary SCFTU Ordinance states, “abortion at all times and at all stages of pregnancy is an unlawful act, unless the abortion is performed to save the life of the pregnant woman in a medical emergency.” The term “Medical emergency” is defined in the ordinance to mean “a life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy that, as certified by a physician, places the woman in danger of death or a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function unless an abortion is performed.” The ordinance states, time and time again, that it does not prohibit “abortions performed or induced in response to a medical emergency, or any conduct that aids or abets or attempts to aid or abet such abortions” and is also clear that it does not prohibit “conduct taken by a licensed medical professional that is necessary to perform, induce, or facilitate an abortion in response to a medical emergency, or to ensure that the licensed medical professional is prepared to perform, induce, or facilitate an abortion in response to a medical emergency, so long as that conduct is not in any way intended to facilitate an elective abortion.” This is the only exception given in the proposed Leary SCFTU Ordinance.

The ordinance is clear that it does not impact the treatment of miscarriages or the removal of an ectopic pregnancy, and it does not prohibit birth control, IUDs, emergency contraception, or In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) or fertility treatments of any type.

Some may wonder about abortions that are sought to be obtained as a result of rape or incest. Since the proposed Leary SCFTU Ordinance was written in alignment with Texas’ state laws like the pre-Roe v. Wade Texas criminal abortion statutes, the Texas Heartbeat Act, and the Human Life Protection Act, the measure does not contain any exceptions for rape or incest. This is also true for all sixty city ordinances and all nine county ordinances that have been passed in the State of Texas. Regardless of how one is conceived, the proposed Leary SCFTU Ordinance seeks to protect all human beings from being aborted.

Is the passage of a pro-life ordinance prohibiting abortion a partisan issue?

While Councilman Kent Markham did not ask any questions, he did share that he was offended by the presentation. Councilman Markham said that he believed abortion was a partisan issue and that he would be abstaining from voting on the issue. Despite Councilman Markham’s framing of the issue, abortion is not a partisan issue.

That being said, it is true that the majority of the Republican Party Primary voters in Bowie County are staunch Republicans who believe in the Right to Life. During the 2018 Republican Party Primary, voters had the opportunity to vote on proposition #7. This proposition gave voters the chance to voice their opinion if they were “In Favor” or “Against” the following statement: “I believe abortion should be abolished in Texas.” In Bowie County, out of 7,673 votes, 5,912 (77.05%) voted in favor of the pro-life proposition and 1,761 (22.95%) voted against. During the 2022 Republican Party Primary, voters had the opportunity to vote on proposition #5. This proposition gave voters the chance to voice their opinion if they were “In Favor” or “Against” the following statement: “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.” In Bowie County, out of 7,939 votes, 7,273 (91.61%) voted in favor of the pro-life proposition and 666 (8.39%) voted against.

So while it is true that not every Republican is against abortion, it is also true that not every Democrat is for abortion. It should be noted that in Lubbock, Texas many registered Democrats signed a petition to outlaw abortion in the City of Lubbock, reminding many in Lubbock that many Democrats stand in opposition to the radical abortion agenda of the left. In response to an effort to pass an ordinance outlawing abortion in Manatee County, Florida, Kristen Day, the Executive Director of Democrats for Life of America, shared, “One out of every three Democrats support reasonable regulation of and limits on abortion. We support the county’s right to protect pre-born life and we urge all pro-life Democrats to support similar initiatives to protect life and truly empower women.”

In Closing

If the City of Leary chooses to pass such an ordinance, they would not be the first in the region to do so. Of the sixty Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinances that have been passed in the State of Texas, sixteen of those cities are in the Tyler-Longview Area Region of East Texas. The cities include: Athens (pop. 13,503), Lindale (pop. 6,923), Rusk (5,664), Gilmer (pop. 5,216), Hooks (pop. 2,769), Waskom (pop. 2,190), Naples (pop. 1,378), Big Sandy (pop. 1,343), Omaha (pop. 1,021), East Mountain (pop. 899), Wells (pop. 853), Murchison (pop. 606), Avinger (pop. 444), Gary (pop. 335), Poynor (pop. 314), and Douglassville (pop. 228). The only city in the region, and the entire state, to have recanted their ordinance is the City of Omaha, who recanted their ordinance after receiving an open records request from the ACLU of Texas in 2019. Other Bowie County cities which could consider the ordinance in the future include: Texarkana (pop. 37,679), Wake Village (pop. 5,897), New Boston (pop. 4,686), Nash (pop. 4,230), De Kalb (pop. 1,769), Maud (pop. 1,026), Red Lick (pop. 956), and Redwater (pop. 851).

Those who wish to see their city pass an enforceable ordinance further outlawing abortion within their city limits, regardless of their state, are encouraged to sign the online petition.

LifeNews Note: Mark Lee Dickson lives in Texas and is the founder of the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Initiative.

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