Mark Lee Dickson/Photo by Noah Dawson
After months of debate, petitioning, and public comments, all eyes will be on City Hall as Amarillo City Council is set to take action on the Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance.
The central part of the ordinance, which was petitioned for by a group of local citizens with the help of East Texas activist Mark Lee Dickson, is a prohibition on transporting a woman through the city to obtain an abortion. This provision, labeled as a prohibition on “abortion trafficking” by supporters, has earned skepticism from both the right and left locally.
Opposition to the provision by several members of city council spurred a citizen’s group to petition for the ordinance. Last month, a group of citizens submitted the requisite number of signatures to force the council’s hand. The ordinance was put on the May 28th agenda. The council chose not to take action at that time, and instead asked if the petitioning committee would be willing to make two changes.
The first change, which was accepted by the petitioning committee, was to name Amarillo’s Hope Choice Pregnancy Center in the ordinance.
The second change was more contentious. The council asked if the committee would be willing to change the provision regarding abortion trafficking to mirror state law, which prohibits aiding and abetting in the procurement of elective abortions. Mayor Cole Stanley has voiced his concerns about the trafficking provision in the submitted ordinance, saying that it would likely not be enforceable.
While the agenda packet for the upcoming June 11th meeting of Amarillo City Council includes both the original version of the proposed ordinance and an amended version submitted by the petitioning committee, the amended version does not include the change to the trafficking provision requested by the council.
With the requested change not included in the committee’s amended proposal, it appears that the committee and council are unlikely to reach an agreement. If the council rejects the ordinance or passes an amended version not accepted by the petitioning committee, the committee reserves the right to force a vote on the item.
The city seems to be prepared for this outcome, with another item at the very end of the agenda included to officially place the item on the November general election ballot.
The meeting will begin at 3:00 pm and will be held on the third floor of Amarillo City Hall. The full agenda and agenda packet can be found at this link.