We heard from Mark Lee Dickson, founder of Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn, on this past week’s Pray With America’s Leaders webcast. This article, written by Dickson, expands on the information he shared about Amarillo’s struggle to become a sanctuary for the unborn. Let’s lift this city up in prayer!

From Texas Scorecard. Since Jan. 10, 2020, residents throughout the city of Amarillo (population 201,291) have expressed interest in seeing their city pass an enforceable ordinance outlawing abortion within their city limits. When the first member of the community showed interest in this effort, only eight cities had passed ordinances outlawing abortion. Now, a total of 67 cities and seven counties across seven states have passed ordinances outlawing abortion and declaring their jurisdictions to be “sanctuaries for the unborn.”

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The first Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn ordinance was drafted for the city of Amarillo on Dec. 13, 2021. Since this ordinance was drafted, over 20 different versions have been written for the city of Amarillo. After years of attempting to get an ordinance passed through the City Council, the citizens of Amarillo have decided to take a different approach: the Citizen Initiative Petition process outlined in the Amarillo City Charter. On the afternoon of Friday, Dec. 29, 2023, 11 Amarillo residents filed the necessary paperwork to begin the Citizen Initiative Petition process. 

The members of the Amarillo Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Ordinance Initiating Committee are: Jana May, Cindy Price, Peggy Carter Thomas, Jacob A. Meyer, John Barrett, Steve Austin, Jennifer Roberts, Martha Sell, Alex Deanda, Connie Morgan, and Carol Ann Stewart. 

If the committee is successful in collecting the necessary number of signatures, the Amarillo City Council will be compelled to vote on the ordinance outlawing abortion and abortion trafficking within the city limits of Amarillo. … If the City Council rejects the ordinance, the Initiating Committee can place the ordinance on the ballot for the next available election.

The Initiating Committee, led by Amarillo resident Jana May, intends to collect well over the 5,761 signatures needed for the petition to be deemed successful. May, the immediate past president of the High Plains Republican Women (HPRW) said: “We are called to protect and cherish the preborn who cannot protect themselves. It’s that simple!” She added: “We must do our part to protect unborn children from abortion and abortion trafficking throughout our city.”

Current HPRW President Cindy Price said: “We took these steps today because we recognize that the sanctity of life begins with protecting the unborn. When we fail to acknowledge their existence as living and valuable human beings, we risk eroding the foundation of compassion that safeguards every life.” …

Jacob Meyer, president of the Amarillo Area Young Republicans (AAYRs) notes: “One of the planks of the Republican Party of Texas Party Platform is expanding the private enforcement mechanism found in the Texas Heartbeat Act to all pro-life laws across the State of Texas. This ordinance is a direct fulfillment of that party platform here in the City of Amarillo.” …

Alex Casias Jr., chairman of the Young Conservatives of Texas at West Texas A&M (YCT-WT) says his group stands strongly in support of the proposed Amarillo ordinance: “A sanctuary city for the unborn ordinance would prevent any abortion services from operating in the community and would prevent abortion trafficking across city limits.” Moreover, he says: “We at YCT-WT will help in any way to continue the fight to protect unborn babies and ensure that this ordinance gets passed with overwhelming support from the community.”

The proposed ordinance does the following:

• prohibits elective abortions and the aiding or abetting of elective abortions within city limits — extending the private enforcement mechanism found in the Texas Heartbeat Act from the point of detectable heartbeat to the point of conception;
• prohibits elective abortions or the aiding or abetting of elective abortions on residents who live within the city limits — regardless of the location of the abortion;
• prohibits the manufacturing, possession, or distribution of abortion-inducing drugs within the city limits;
• prohibits the abortion trafficking of an unborn child and the aiding or abetting of the abortion trafficking of an unborn child within the city limits — making it illegal for abortion traffickers to use any roads or runways within the city limits;
• prohibits the transport of the remains of unborn children who have been killed by an elective abortion from any abortion provider into the city limits, prohibiting also the disposal of such remains within the city limits;
• prohibits organizations seeking to profit off of the murder of innocent unborn children from operating or doing business within the city limits.

These six provisions do something that current law in Texas does not and would make Amarillo one of the safest cities in Texas for pregnant mothers and their unborn children. …

To hear more about Amarillo and the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn initiative, check the webcast embedded below.

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(Excerpt from Texas Scorecard. Photo Credit: Mark Lee Dickson)