Amarillo residents will have the opportunity to vote for a “Sanctuary City for the Unborn” ordinance in November after the proposition received the necessary signatures on a citizen-led petition.
More than 50 Texas cities and counties have adopted “Sanctuary City for the Unborn” initiatives, which establish legal protections for unborn fetuses from conception. The Amarillo ordinance was voted down by the city council, but it may be approved as a ballot measure by voters, according to The Texan.
Amarillo City Secretary Stephanie Coggins advised the city council on how to write the ballot language for the citizen-driven petition earlier this month. She suggested members approve ballot language used by Lubbock in 2021.
“The code of ordinances of the City of Amarillo shall be amended by enacting an ordinance outlawing abortion, declaring Amarillo a sanctuary city for the unborn, making various provisions and findings, providing for severability, and establishing an effective date,” the proposed ballot question reads.
Ballot language is important as it has the potential to become the letter of the law. Notably, local officials can alter ballot language to thwart the will of the original petition’s signatories.
The Austin City Council lost a lawsuit in 2021 for engaging in such behavior. The Texas Supreme Court sided with the plaintiffs and ruled that the council had adopted misleading ballot language, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
David Henry, the media relations manager for Amarillo, told DX the city must finalize the ballot language by August 19. The city council, he said, “must follow City Charter provisions and the Texas Election Code when setting the ballot language.”
The city secretary did not respond to a request for comment on how her office plans to ensure the city council adopts ballot language that accurately reflects the citizen-led petition.
Nevertheless, Mark Lee Dickson, the founder of the Sanctuary City for the Unborn initiative, said he remains confident the Amarillo City Council will adopt fair language for the ballot initiative.
“They have an obligation to,” he told DX. “We believe it will be fair.”
The Amarillo initiative expands the private enforcement mechanism of the Texas Heartbeat Act in several ways. Unborn fetuses would gain legal protections at conception. Aiding women in travel to other states for an abortion would be made illegal. It would ban the production, distribution, and possession of abortion pills, which are often sent from Democrat-run states to Texas, as previously reported by DX.
Amarillo Council Member Tom Scherlen expressed concerns about Coggins’ proposed ballot language, noting it does not mention the ban on abortion travel.
“The meat of the ordinance is the travel ban,” he said in a city council meeting earlier this month, according to The Texan.
Council Member Don Tipps similarly noted a lack of mention of a “travel ban.”
Ordinances banning travel to states for an abortion were adopted in 16 Texas cities and counties, as previously reported by DX. Local leaders said the ordinances may help counter groups in Texas that guide women to neighboring states for abortions and help cover medical and travel costs.
“We knew this was a destination to pass through, and we wanted to be able to set a standard in our community that gives a civil component to our community to those that realize that this is trafficking,” Odessa Mayor Javier Joven previously told DX. “If they can prove they came through, it’s illegal.”
In Dallas, a bipartisan initiative called Dallas HERO got the requisite signatures to put three propositions on the November ballot. The signatures are currently awaiting verification by officials. It is unclear if Dallas City Attorney Tammy Palomino will mess with the ballot language to thwart the will of residents who signed Dallas HERO’s petitions.