Amarillo City Council is set to officially place the petitioned-for Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance on the November ballot on Tuesday. But, even with the deadline to call the election looming, both supporters and opponents of the ordinance have criticized the proposed ballot language.
Jarad Najvar, an attorney representing the group that petitioned for the ordinance, penned a letter to Amarillo City Council warning of a possible lawsuit regarding the language. In particular, he criticized a section stating the ordinance would establish “a criminal offense for any person acts as an accomplice to the manufacture, possess, or distribute abortion-inducing drugs in the City of Amarillo, without a criminal penalty.” Najvar noted in his letter that the entire ordinance would be enforced through private civil action. “The proposition is materially misleading to voters to the extent it claims the Ordinance creates a criminal offense,” wrote Najvar. “It should instead say that it creates a civil action or civil liability.”
The proposed ordinance does indeed only contain a private right of action as its only enforcement mechanism. Despite this, a portion of the ordinance would designate organizations that mail items meant to induce abortion as criminal organizations.
Meanwhile, the Potter-Randall County Medical Society, which has expressed concerns about potential chilling effects of the ordinance, released a statement criticizing the proposed language. “Many of the physician members of our board are also pro-life, but they strongly oppose this ordinance,” the statement read. “It’s not about outlawing abortions in Amarillo. Elective abortions are already illegal in the State of Texas.” The organization also took issue with the use of the word word “trafficking,” which is used in both the ordinance and ballot language to describe transporting a woman to obtain an abortion outside of Amarillo. In a press conference, Dr. Steve Urban called trafficking “a loaded term” and suggested using the word “transporting” instead.
The full ballot language set to be voted on on Tuesday, August 13th, is as follows:
PROPOSITION A
THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF AMARILLO, TEXAS SHALL BE AMENDED TO ADOPT AN INITIATED ORDINANCE, SUBMITTED BY THE AMARILLO SANCTUARY CITY FOR THE UNBORN CITIZEN INITIATIVE PETITION INITIATING COMMITTEE, DECLARING THE CITY OF AMARILLO A SANCTUARY CITY FOR THE UNBORN; DECLARING THAT ABORTION AT ALL TIMES AND AT ALL STAGES OF PREGNANCY IS UNLAWFUL UNLESS AN ABORTION IS PERFORMED TO SAVE THE LIFE OF A PREGNANT WOMAN IN A MEDICAL EMERGENCY; FINDING THAT ABORTION-INDUCING DRUGS ARE DECLARED CONTRABAND; ESTABLISHING A CRIMINAL OFFENSE FOR ANY PERSON TO MANUFACTURE, POSSESS, OR DISTRIBUTE ABORTIONINDUCING DRUGS IN THE CITY OF AMARILLO; CALLING UPON EVERY UNITED STATES ATTORNEY IN THE STATE OF TEXAS, BOTH PRESENT AND FUTURE, TO INVESTIGATE AND PROSECUTE ABORTION PROVIDERS AND ABORTION-PILL DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS UNDER 18 U.S.C. SECTIONS 1461 AND 1462 AND UNDER THE RACKETEER INFLUENCED AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS ACT (RICO); ENCOURAGING ALL VICTIMS OF ABORTION PROVIDERS AND ABORTION-PILL DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS, INCLUDING MOTHERS, FATHERS, AND SURVIVING RELATIVES OF ABORTED UNBORN CHILDREN, TO SUE RACKETEERING ENTERPRISES UNDER CIVIL RICO; CALLING UPON DISTRICT ATTORNEYS THROUGHOUT THE STATE OF TEXAS INVESTIGATE AND PROSECUTE ALL TEXAS ABORTION FUNDS AND THEIR DONORS THAT HAVE AIDED OR ABETTED ABORTIONS IN TEXAS; PROHIBITING ABORTIONS WITHIN THE CITY OF AMARILLO; PROHIBITING ABORTIONS ON CITY OF AMARILLO RESIDENTS; PROHIBITING ABORTION TRAFFICKING ON AN UNBORN CHILD; PROHIBITING ABORTION-INDUCING DRUGS IN THE CITY OF AMARILLO; PROHIBITING ANY ORGANIZATION THAT VIOLATES 18 U.S.C. SECTIONS 1461 OR 1462 BY FACILITATING ABORTIONS FROM OPERATING OR DOING BUSINESS IN THE CITY OF AMARILLO; PROHIBITING THE TRANSPORTATION OR DISPOSAL IN THE CITY OF AMARILLO OF THE REMAINS OF AN UNBORN CHILD KILLED BY AN ABORTION; PROVIDING A PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION; PROVIDING FOR AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
___ For
___ Against
The deadline set by state law to call the election is August 19th.