The Amarillo City Council has been reluctant to pass a sanctuary ordinance for the unborn that, among other things, would protect its streets, highways, and airports from being used for abortion trafficking.
"Many of these people campaigned on making Amarillo a sanctuary for the unborn, which is why a number of these residents in Amarillo voted for these people," reports Mark Lee Dickson of Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn. "They thought that these leaders would stand for life, and this reluctance has really concerned them."
Late last month, a Citizen Initiative Petition was filed with the city secretary to see Amarillo (population 201,291) pass an ordinance outlawing abortion and abortion trafficking. Dickson says the citizen initiative, led by 11 Amarillo residents, was a matter of last resort after several elected officials started to criticize the private enforcement mechanism found in the Texas Heartbeat Act and in every sanctuary city for the unborn ordinance in the state.
Amarillo Mayor Cole Stanley thinks "a large percentage of those people that signed the petition haven't read it," and he intends to put forth his own ordinance that is "very similar" but excludes, in his words, "anything that oversteps on civil liberties to drive on a road or to travel in between states."
Dickson says Mayor Stanley's opposition sounds like it came from Washington.
"The Biden administration doesn't want us to pass these prohibitions on abortion trafficking, and the mayor of Amarillo seems to be lockstep, using some of the similar language as the Biden administration," the pro-lifer notes.
The petition drive garnered more than 10,000 signatures, and if enough of those qualify, then the city council will have the chance to pass the ordinance. If they do not, then it will go on a future election ballot.
More than a dozen cities and counties have passed similar policies, according to a tally kept by Dickson's organization.
