Texas: Opponents of Abortion Advertise “Cities of Refuge for Unborn Life”

Texas
Abortions in danger: women’s rights activists alarmed about “cities of refuge for unborn life”

Anti-abortion activists protest for the controversial “heartbeat” law in the Supreme Court

© Almond Ngan / AFP

In Texas, more and more communities are declaring themselves “havens for unborn life,” which prohibit all abortions. Women’s rights groups are extremely concerned.

The fight for abortion law in Texas is at the highest level – and also at the local level. The US Supreme Court is currently examining the extensive ban on abortion in the state, and the government of President Joe Biden has sued. In the meantime, however, numerous Texan municipalities are trying to create facts: They declare themselves to be “cities of refuge for unborn life” and forbid all abortions.

Dozens of cities have now issued such ordinances, mostly small communities in conservative and religious rural areas in Texas. In May, however, the citizens of the 260,000-inhabitant city of Lubbock also voted in a referendum with a majority of more than 60 percent for a ban on abortions. As a result, the family planning organization Planned Parenthood had to stop abortions in a clinic that had only opened six months earlier.

The idea for “cities of refuge” comes from the ex-pastor

“All the huge churches campaigned for this regulation,” says Blair Wallace of the civil rights organization ACLU. “We just can’t fight that. It’s really difficult to fight.”

In Lubbock, the principle was applied that it is not the authorities but private individuals who want to enforce the abortion ban through civil lawsuits. This makes it difficult to appeal against the abortion ban, which clearly violates a US Supreme Court ruling on the right to abortion. Texas MPs used the same trick in early September when they tightened abortion laws. The “heartbeat law” passed at the same time forbids abortions from around the sixth week of pregnancy.

The idea of ​​”cities of refuge for unborn life” goes back to the most conservative activist and former pastor, Mark Lee Dickson. In 2019, the man in his mid-thirties convinced the mayor of the small Texan town of Waskom to pass a local ban on abortion. Subsequently, Dickson, who likes to wear an upside-down sports cap, toured Texas and spread his message that the fight over abortion law must be carried out locally.

“Sanctuary Cities” actually term used by the Democrats

The term “refuge cities” – in English “Sanctuary Cities” – is borrowed from political opponents: This is usually the name given to cities governed by democrats that protect illegal immigrants from deportation by the federal authorities.

Anti-abortion behavior is watched with great concern by civil rights groups. “They will continue until there is no access to abortion at all,” said ACLU representative Wallace. “That’s their goal. They don’t just want to ban abortions after six weeks. They want the right to abortion to be abolished in general.”

Dyana Limon-Mercado of Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, a political branch of Planned Parenthood, sees the actions of the anti-abortionists as purely politically motivated. In most of the cities that have decided to ban abortion, no abortions have been offered anyway. “This is a political fight,” says Limon-Mercado. “It’s about taking away access (to abortions) to people who don’t already have access.”

“There are huge supply deserts in Texas”

After abortion ended in Lubbock City, women seeking abortions must now drive to Fort Worth, nearly five hours away. “Texas is huge,” says Wallace. “There are heaps of clinics – and there are huge supply deserts.”

The communal abortion bans as well as the Texan abortion law, which has been in force since September, have led to sometimes bitter legal disputes. Conservative activists are hoping for a new landmark ruling by the Supreme Court that will overturn or at least severely restrict the right to abortion.

That is not expected in the dispute over Texas. The Supreme Court will deal with a law of the southern state of Mississippi on December 1st. Women’s rights groups are alarmed: Since the tenure of ex-President Donald Trump, the conservative camp at the court has a clear majority of six of the nine judges.

les / François Picard
AFP

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