The American Civil Liberties Union is suing seven Texas towns in federal court. The reason? They’ve passed pro-life ordinances declaring themselves sanctuary cities for the unborn.
On Tuesday, the ACLU filed suit in East Texas against the cities of Waskom, Naples, Joaquin, Tenaha, Rusk, Gary, and Wells on behalf of two pro-abortion plaintiffs: the Texas Equal Access Fund and the Lilith Fund for Reproductive Equity.
The ordinances, which prohibit abortion providers from setting up shop within the jurisdiction of the cities, have passed in 11 Texas cities thus far according to Texas Right to Life, which has been partnering with citizens to push cities to adopt these ordinances.
“Unsurprisingly, organizations that profit off the death of pre-born children are throwing a hodgepodge of complaints at the court and seeing what they can get to stick. In passing the ordinance, cities acted within their constitutional rights to self-governance and within the scope of current U.S. Supreme Court abortion jurisprudence,” said Schwartz.
“The ordinance language is solid and carefully drafted in expectation of the abortion industry filing a lawsuit. This lawsuit is baseless, selectively targeting smaller cities that have passed the ordinance, and filed by abortion advocacy organizations that cover for the real culprit: abortion businesses, which are evidently unwilling to join the lawsuit themselves.
“As always, we are not afraid for Pro-Life laws to be challenged in court; we watched the abortion industry try to stop these ordinances at city hall, but when citizens and local leaders stood strong, the pro-abortion forces realized their only hope is to intimidate cities with a scattershot lawsuit. Texas Right to Life looks forward to standing alongside these brave cities.”
Texas Scorecard will continue to cover this story as further developments occur.
A copy of the ACLU’s lawsuit may be viewed here.
Photo: Lorie Shaull
