Conservative activists in Texas have developed a new strategy to prevent abortion: making it illegal to use local roads to bring those seeking the procedure to the state where it is legal.
Abortion critics in east Texas targeted areas along interstate highways and near airports, urging local counties and cities to adopt ordinances that would effectively lock up pregnant women in the anti-abortion state, according to the Washington Post.
Pastor Mark Lee Dickson, who heads Right to Life of East Texas, is behind the push to pass what he calls a “trafficking” ordinance, which would give citizens the power to sue those who transport women along local roads to obtain abortions.
Abortion is largely outlawed in Texas after the state passed new restrictions after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer.
According to Dickson, trafficking occurs because “unborn children are always taken against their will.”
The ordinance will not punish the pregnant woman, Dickson told the newspaper.
Llano, a city in central Texas, considered the measure last month but tabled the vote on Friday, according to reports.
Pastor Mark Lee Dickson is lobbying for municipalities to adopt anti-trafficking ordinances to prevent abortions.Twitter/@MarkLeeDickson
Abortion rights activists marched near the State Capitol in Austin last summer after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.AFP via Getty Images
In January, the Roosevelt County Commission in New Mexico voted to adopt an ordinance banning abortion, becoming part of the growing movement of Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn. Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn
Mayor Marion Bishop said the law would be difficult to enforce and mostly symbolic.
“Is it really necessary? No,” he told the newspaper. “Does it make a statement? Yes it is true.”
The Texas cities of Lubbock and Odessa are among those considering a trafficking ordinance, according to reports.
Dickson is also behind the push to create Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn, which encourages cities and towns to adopt ordinances like the trafficking measure.
In 2019, Waksom, Texas, became the first city to join the movement, which now includes 67 municipalities spread across the Lone Star state, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, and Illinois, according to Dickson’s website.
Last month, Mitchell County in Texas voted to join Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn, which bans abortion and the “trafficking” of abortion in unincorporated parts of the county. Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn
Protesters protest the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last year.Getty Images
The Goliad County Commission in Texas voted to adopt an ordinance banning abortion and “trafficking” in unincorporated parts of the county.
Attorney Jonathan Mitchell, former Texas Attorney General, is also an architect of the sanctuary movement.
Mitchell was the author of the so-called “heartbeat” bill that led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
