A West Texas city will not only be voting for elected officials but will also be deciding on a pro-life ordinance to protect the unborn from abortion trafficking.
Seminole is a small city that has a population of about 7,952 and sits 30 minutes away from Hobbs, New Mexico, a destination for one of the largest independent abortion providers in the U.S., Whole Woman’s Health.
Residents will vote on Proposition B, also referred to as Proposition 2, to decide whether the city adopts a “Sanctuary for the Unborn” ordinance. The ordinance would prohibit abortion and abortion pill trafficking to protect pregnant mothers and their unborn children from the dangers of abortion.
Mark Lee Dickson, a director of Right to Life Across Texas and founder of the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Initiative, told the Daily Signal that “Seminole is a gateway to death into New Mexico.”
“When Roe v. Wade was overturned, Hobbs, New Mexico, was the primary target for one of the largest independent abortion providers in the nation. We successfully pushed the abortion provider over five hours away to Albuquerque, but unfortunately, that was not far enough,” Dickson said.
“We know that several New Mexico abortion providers, many of the same ones that we ran out of Texas, are currently targeting Texas residents, including minors without parental consent. When 85 to 95% of the women being taken to these abortion facilities are Texas residents, that is a real problem.”
The effort to declare the city as a sanctuary began in October 2020 with an online petition that garnered hundreds of signatures.
Seeing no traction with the online petition, citizens then started an official citizen initiative petition authorized by the Seminole City Charter, which received 1,551 new signatures. The city found the petition met the requirements, and the Seminole City Council was set to consider the ordinance.
However, while the initial agenda showed that the city council tried to send the measure to the ballot, the city of Seminole changed course and added a supplemental agenda to either vote for or against the ordinance. Despite the community’s support, the city council unanimously rejected the measure to declare the city a sanctuary and sent the ordinance to a vote.
“Surprisingly, the most influential opposition in Seminole is not pro-abortion organizations, but a few leaders in influential churches who disagree with the Republican Party of Texas Party Platform on abortion trafficking and the private enforcement mechanism that allows lawsuits to be filed against out-of-state abortion providers and the in-state abortion trafficking organizations and individuals that they are working with,” Dickson told the Daily Signal. “The ordinance is clear that, under no circumstances, may any penalty be brought against the mother of the unborn child.”
Other Texas cities and counties have passed sanctuary ordinances in West Texas, including Lubbock County, Dawson County, Brownfield, Wolfforth, Muleshoe, and Borden County.
If a majority of Seminole residents vote for Prop B, the city will become the 84th city in Texas and the 101st city in the nation to pass a Sanctuary for the Unborn ordinance and close loopholes in Texas’ pro-life laws relating to abortion trafficking, abortion pill trafficking, and the trafficking of aborted remains sent to Texas landfills.
“These ordinances have led to canceled appointments and higher no-show rates, which is a really good thing. It has been surprising that some in Seminole have felt the need to stand in the way of that,” Dickson said.
Early voting is underway in Texas and ends Oct. 30. Election Day is Nov. 3.
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[ H/T The Daily Signal ]
