Lubbock City Council Rejects Sanctuary City for the Unborn Ordinance

In a stunning display of condescension and defiance, Lubbock City Council once again opposed citizen efforts to make the City of Lubbock a Sanctuary City for the Unborn by a vote of 0-7 Tuesday night. This vote comes after Pro-Life Lubbockites acquired over 5,000 signatures in support of the ordinance. Pro-Life experts assured the council that the ordinance is a legally prudent measure to prohibit abortion in the community.

Pro-Life Lubbockites have urged the council to pass the ordinance since July when Planned Parenthood announced they would return to West Texas to commit abortions. In October, the city council nevertheless killed the Pro-Life ordinance in a meeting that was closed to public input or observation. The petition by thousands of Pro-Life Lubbockites resurrected debate on the Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance, forcing Lubbock City

Council to again discuss and vote on the measure. Sadly, the city council has doubled down on their efforts in rejecting the ordinance, choosing political convenience over the lives of preborn children and pregnant mothers.

Texas Right to Life stands in full support of the grassroots effort to make Lubbock a safe haven for preborn children and pregnant mothers. Planned Parenthood is already open in Lubbock and will soon commit abortions. Several councilmembers explained their opposition to the ordinance, “Roe v. Wade is the law of the land,” clearly ignoring the legal analysis offered by constitutional scholars who argued the policy does not defy the federal government or evade the authority of the Supreme Court.

Hundreds of Lubbockites attended to testify in favor of the ordinance, and many citizens stayed at City Hall until after midnight when the hearing ended.

The city council has constitutional authority to prohibit abortion; however, they have rejected the ordinance without hearing both sides of the legal argument, relying solely on the opinion of one liberal law firm. Lubbock City Council’s continued rejection of the Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance remains an indefensible act of political cowardice. While Planned Parenthood celebrates, preborn children and pregnant mothers remain vulnerable to the injustice of elective abortion.

Pro-Life Lubbockites will now move forward by bringing the Sancturay City for the Unborn initiative to the ballot so the public can have their say during the next election. Texas Right to Life thanks Senator Charles Perry and local Pro-Life activists for their courageous leadership and resilient determination to make Lubbock a Sanctuary City for the Unborn. We eagerly and prayerfully anticipate the public vote that will make Lubbock the 16th city to protect preborn Texans.