Two new members on the Odessa City Council voted to pass a Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance almost immediately after taking the oaths of office.
Residents of Abilene, Athens, San Angelo, and Plainview adopted ordinances further protecting the rights of unborn children in those cities.
Abilene, Athens, San Angelo, and Plainview will decide whether to join the over 40 municipalities that have become “Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn."
Mark Lee Dickson's social media posts and the ordinances he championed in several Texas cities have both called abortion funds "criminal."
If passed, the ordinance would ban the abortion of any “unborn resident” of Athens, even if the abortion took place outside city limits.
Nearly all incorporated cities in Leon County have passed similar ordinances, including Centerville, Leona, Jewett, and Marquez.
“Roe and Casey must be overruled, and the authority to regulate abortion must be returned to the people and their elected representatives.”
In a 4 to 3 vote, Abilene leadership punted the ordinance to November. The unusual vote may run afoul of the city charter.
The "Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn" initiative has evolved substantially to present Abilene with one of the strictest ordinances yet.
The ordinance that passed is broader and more substantial than the proposal the council rejected two years ago.
State politicians Rep. Dustin Burrows and Sen. Charles Perry both encouraged passage of the ban. Burrows spoke at the meeting.
The proposed ordinance is no longer in the council’s hands at this point. The citizens of San Angelo will pass or reject it at the ballot box.
