The town of New Home, located south of Lubbock, became the 15^th city in Texas to prohibit abortion on September 29, 2020.

The New Home city council unanimously voted for the resolution following state politicians and local officials discussing the idea of bringing back a Planned Parenthood facility to the city. New Home Baptist pastor L.J. Wright was a champion of this pro-life effort and hopes that the vote will change Lubbock’s city council decision to bring back Planned Parenthood.

“With the City Council in Lubbock seemingly balking at the ordinance while claiming to be Pro-Life, this puts the pressure directly on them,” Wright commented. “Every city in Lynn County should consider following suit with New Home, and get behind Mark Lee Dickson… I am challenging all of West Texas to stand up for life, and make their city a Sanctuary City for the Unborn.”

Mark Lee Dickson, a pro-life activist and director of Right to Life of East Texas, crafted this ordinance.

Texas Senator Charles Perry, who represents Lubbock, has sent a petition around requesting that Planned Parenthood be kept out of Lubbock and signed on a letter calling Lubbock to pass a similar ordinance.

“Passing an ordinance designating Lubbock as a Sanctuary City for the Unborn will help to continue the Texas belief that life begins at conception, while also protecting the safety of mothers,” Perry wrote in the letter, which was also signed by State Representatives Dustin Burrows and John Frullo.

Similar to the other cities who have passed such ordinances, New Home’s ordinance implements the abortion ban by imposing fines on abortion providers. The catch is that this ordinance will go into effect once Roe v. Wade is overturned. Providers will also be held liable for carrying out abortions, and families who have children that were aborted will now be able to sue them.

The Texas reported that “Waskom, Naples, Joaquin, Tenaha, Gilmer, Westbrook, Rusk, Colorado City, Gary, Big Spring, Wells, Whiteface, and East Mountain are the other cities that have adopted the ordinance, modeled by Dickson. The town of Omaha adopted the ordinance but later pulled its teeth, making it a symbolic resolution instead.”

Texans are getting fed up with the inaction of legislators at the state and federal level. So, they’re taking matters into their own hands at the local level. Similar to Second Amendment Sanctuary resolutions, these pro-life movements represent a growing dissatisfaction with the political status quo and are likely a sign of how politics will be conducted from here on out.