The Continued Texas Fight to Outlaw Abortion
The battle continues to rage within Texas over the lawfulness of abortion. In the aftermath of six cities becoming “sanctuary cities for the unborn” earlier this season, Right to Life East Texas director Mark Lee Dickson continues to stand before council after city council pleading the case of thousands of children’s unheard voices to ban abortion.
A number of outlets, local papers, and news stations have featured Dickson’s work as he moves through the state. In the past two weeks alone, Dickson has spoken with citizens and council members in 25 Texas cities in an effort to gain a grassroots approval of the proposed ordinances.
Recently, Dickson’s efforts were enough to gain him the attention of the Dallas Observer (a publication known to DFW residents by its decisively left-wing perspective alongside adult entertainment ads). The author of the piece, Stephen Young, didn’t hesitate to paint Dickson as a scofflaw, defiantly working to corrupt quiet, small towns. In the piece, Young jumped at the chance to cite Texas pro-choice advocate groups such as NARAL and the Texas ACLU, while claiming that Texas residents favor abortion—a stat quickly disputed by other polls.
While these “sanctuary” ordinances do attempt to challenge Supreme Court decisions (like Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, and Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt), the local government code in cities like Mount Vernon and Omaha make clear statements that promote their legality. Speaking of general law cities, they state, “The municipality may adopt an ordinance, act, law, or regulation, not inconsistent with state law, that is necessary for the government, interest, welfare, or good order of the municipality as a body politic.” These ordinances, as it is understood, are in no way, shape, or form inconsistent with state law.
In fact, Texas statutes which criminalize abortion and impose a criminal liability on anyone who aid and abet abortions were not repealed by Roe v. Wade. 2A Texas Penal Code article 1192, at 433 (1961) imposes criminal liability on anyone who “furnishes the means for procuring an abortion knowing the purpose intended.” Texas statutes like 1192, were not repealed by the Texas Legislature in response to Roe v. Wade. Because of this, statutes like this one continues to exist as the law of Texas.
In a quote to CRIT-LARGE, Dickson said of his pursuit:
“We are called to hate evil, to love good, and to establish justice within the city gates. The question that every leader of every city has to ask themselves is, ‘Are we doing that? Are we living up to our God-given responsibility?’ I think it’s time for all of our cities to come back to that phrase which is plastered on so many of our walls. It’s time for our cities to live up to the phrase, ‘In God We Trust’ and do what is right.”
Most recently, Dickson has his sights set on Rusk, Texas, a small city about an hour south of Tyler. A passionate Rusk councilmember, Martin Holsome, made a post on his personal social media imploring others to take action in this fight: “I've been prayerful in my approach and have decided to present a topic to our councilmembers for discussion and consideration,” Councilman Holsome stated.
Dickson plans to continue the effort and move into more cities including Lindale, Mount Enterprise, White Oak, Jacksonville, and Carthage. He says he also has plans to run ads in local papers in Alba, Canton, Wills Point, and Atlanta, Texas.
To see our other articles on the Texas abortion fight, visit our series, Texas: Sanctuary for the Unborn