A North Texas group regularly flies local pregnant women out of state to get abortions — an initiative that some leaders say may violate local ordinances.
The Tubman Travel Project officially announced its “Texas Tubman Travel Initiative” last week to fly pregnant women from Texas to New Mexico to get abortions. The group claims it has helped more than 400 Texas women obtain abortions out of state since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
“Our Texas work is to guarantee that women in Texas will have the opportunity to travel with others to access the reproductive healthcare they want and need,” Rev. Erika Ferguson, the founder and CEO of the project, said at a press conference at Dallas Love Field Airport. “Our organization exists to boldly bring clarity where there is confusion and to provide actual personal care for women who must travel outside their home state to get abortion care.”
The initiative’s website elaborates on this concept:
“Imagine never having flown on a plane before, never having been to another state, not knowing anyone, and trying to get a medical abortion. Feeling alone, stressed, and nauseous. Yes, now you have an idea of why the Tubman Initiative exists. We know this initiative works because we have been implementing it since the laws in Texas went into effect. From that time until now, we have supported over 400 women in traveling out of their home state and into New Mexico to receive the medical abortion care they need and want.”
Ferguson escorts pregnant women each week from Texas to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to get abortions, The Nation reported.
According to the website, this constitutes “provid[ing] personalized, high-level care, support, and service to those seeking care outside of Texas by arranging group travel via commercial airlines and accompanying them with deep care throughout the entire day of travel.”
The initiative may violate civil ordinances in 16 Texas cities and counties that ban travel to other states to obtain abortions where the procedure is legal. The ordinances ban anyone from helping women travel through Odessa, Little River-Academy, Muenster, Mitchell County, Goliad County, Cochran County, Lubbock County, Dawson County, and Jack County.
Like the Texas Heartbeat Act passed in 2021, the ordinances are not enforced by law enforcement but rather by private citizens bringing civil cases against those who aid women in traveling to get an abortion.
“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 told The Dallas Express. “If they can prove they came through, it’s illegal.”
Joven said no cases have been brought forward in his city under the ordinance but added he believes it has served as an effective deterrent. He said groups like The Tubman Travel Project may be susceptible to violations if citizens can prove they aided travel through areas with the ordinances.
“What’s their motivation? In essence, they’re trafficking people to murder their children,” Joven told DX. “We’re talking about life and death here.”
“These ordinances have proven to be a deterrent,” Mark Lee Dickson, founder of the “Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn” initiative, told The Dallas Express. “We want to see more canceled appointments and more saved lives.”
Cisco, Slaton, Athens, Abilene, San Angelo, and Plainview passed ordinances to ban their residents from helping women travel to get an abortion. However, the ordinances in these cities do not cover citizens from outside their jurisdictions.
“It’s not just the abortion trafficking organizations we have to be worried about,” Dickson added. “We have to be worried about everyone who is assisting abortion trafficking.”
Jason Corley, a Lubbock County commissioner, said no cases have been brought forward as a result of his local abortion travel ban. However, he said abortion travel groups could face legal troubles if enough cities and counties in Texas adopt the ordinances. The state legislature, he added, should explore ways to enforce similar abortion travel bans statewide.
“Everyone says they’re pro-life until it’s time to do something pro-life,” he told DX. “Are you willing to stand up, take the beating, get the death threats, ugly phone calls? If you’re not, sit down.”
Amarillo residents will vote on an abortion travel ban in November after the city council spiked an ordinance earlier this year. Abortion activists claim the travel bans violate the interstate travel rights of Texans.
“We are deeply disappointed that the misguided initiating committee has chosen to ignore the majority of Amarillo citizens and our duly elected representatives by placing this unconstitutional ban on the ballot,” the Amarillo Reproductive Freedom Alliance said in a statement, reported The Texas Tribune.
The Tubman Travel Project did not respond to a request for comment.