18th Texas county outlaws abortion and use of roads for ‘abortion trafficking’

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this guest post are solely those of the author.

King County, home of the famous 6666 Ranch (Four Sixes Ranch), has become the latest  Sanctuary County for the Unborn (SCFTU) in the State of Texas. The King County Commissioners adopted the ordinance outlawing abortion and abortion trafficking in a unanimous 4-0 vote.

The vote was the seventh unanimous passage of the ordinance by a political subdivision in Texas this year, following: the City of Matador (pop. 570), Borden County (pop. 631), the City of Lockney (pop. 1,988), Hall County (2,825), Hood County (pop. 61,598), and the City of Wellman (pop.205).

Voices in favor

The measure was first presented before the King County Commissioners’ Court on the morning of Monday, February 9. At that meeting, Judge Duane Lee Daniel invited discussion on the proposed King County SCFTU ordinance. The first person to speak in favor of the measure was Preston Parsons, President of Turning Point USA at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.

Parsons outlined the basic provisions of the ordinance and fielded questions from the King County Commissioners and King County Attorney Trey Poage. Parsons was followed by Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Initiative representative Ruth York of Cisco, Texas. York advocated for the ordinance because it could protect both women and babies. ​

Voices in opposition

After York shared, Judge Daniel referenced an opinion from Attorney Jim Allison from Austin, Texas, who serves as General Counsel for the County Judges and Commissioners Association. Allison’s opinion had been circulated throughout Texas as a result of an inquiry on the constitutionality of the measure from Hockley County Judge Sharla Baldridge.

When asked about Attorney Jim Allison’s opinion, York shared that Allison was a “Democrat with a history of opposing these measures.” The statement appeared to resonate with King County's leadership. King County is considered the third-most Republican county in Texas. In the 2024 presidential election, an overwhelming 95.56% of voters in King County voted for Republican Donald J. Trump, while only 4.44% voted for Democrat Kamala Harris. ​

While all members of the court supported the ordinance, the measure was tabled to give County Attorney Poage more time to research it further. Just minutes after the ordinance was tabled in King County, a SCFTU ordinance was adopted by the County Judge and Commissioners in Hall County, about 90 miles away.

Unanimous passage

On the morning of Monday, March 2, the King County Commissioners’ Court reconvened and reconsidered the ordinance outlawing abortion and abortion trafficking in their county. After hearing a presentation from Right to Life Across Texas, King County Judge Duane Lee Daniel asked the Commissioners if they had a motion to bring forth on the measure.

Precinct 1 Commissioner Landon Lorance made a motion to adopt the ordinance outlawing abortion and declaring King County a Sanctuary County for the Unborn. The measure was seconded by Precinct 3 Commissioner Dwayne Green. Upon a vote, Commissioners Lorance and Green, along with Precinct 2 Commissioner Chris McCauley and Precinct 4 Commissioner Jay Hurt, all voted in favor of the measure, making the ordinance's passage a unanimous 4-0.

After the vote, County Attorney Trey Poage shared:

"In my opinion, from a legal standpoint, SCFTU has been very thorough in drafting the ordinance they proposed. I believe, as do many others, that it will stand up to scrutiny in court should it be challenged.”

While such a challenge is unlikely, King County has received a letter from Jonathan F. Mitchell just in case.

City and county authority

Mitchell’s letter offers to represent the county at no cost to the county or taxpayers for any litigation that arises from the passage of their ordinance outlawing abortion and abortion trafficking. Mitchell is recognized as one of the leading constitutional attorneys in America, successfully representing Donald J. Trump before the Supreme Court of the United States. In 2025, Mitchell made the Washington Post’s list of 50 People Shaping Our Society.

The last time a lawsuit was filed challenging a Sanctuary for the Unborn Ordinance in Texas was in May 2021, when Planned Parenthood sued the City of Lubbock. In his 50-page ruling in Planned Parenthood v. City of Lubbock (2021), Judge James Wesley Hendrix ruled against Planned Parenthood and sided with the City of Lubbock. Attorney General Paxton, who had filed an amicus brief supporting the City of Lubbock, celebrated the victory. While Planned Parenthood's challenge was to a city ordinance and not a county ordinance, the texts addressed by both Attorney General Paxton’s Office and Judge James Wesley Hendrix in Lubbock’s Federal District Court addressed the authority given to both cities and counties. Since the City of Lubbock passed its ordinance, a total of 53 cities and 18 counties have passed similar measures – and not one of them has been challenged since Lubbock.

Leading the way

The passage made King County (pop. 265) the 18th county in Texas to outlaw abortion trafficking – following Mitchell (pop. 9,070), Goliad (pop. 7,012), Cochran (pop. 2,547), Lubbock (pop. 317,561), Dawson (pop. 12,130), Jack (pop. 8,875), Shackelford (pop. 3,105), Camp (pop.13,164), Shelby (pop. 24,179), Hopkins (pop. 38,784), Dickens (pop. 1,725),  Howard (pop. 34,860), Motley (pop. 1,063), Crosby (pop. 5,133), Borden (pop. 631), Hall (pop. 2,825), and Hood (pop. 61,598) counties — as well as the 20th county and the 114th political subdivision to outlaw abortion in the United States. The effort to see political subdivisions throughout Texas outlaw abortion trafficking through the Sanctuaries for the Unborn initiative is supported by lawmakers across Texas and New Mexico.

The King County SCFTU Ordinance prohibits elective abortions and the aiding or abetting of elective abortions within the unincorporated area of King County, as well as the performing of an elective abortion and the aiding or abetting of an elective abortion on a resident of the unincorporated area of King County, “regardless of the location of the abortion, regardless of the law in the jurisdiction where the abortion occurred, and regardless of whether the person knew or should have known that the abortion was performed or induced on a resident of the unincorporated area of King County.”

Since the entirety of King County is unincorporated, the ordinance covers the entirety of King County. As a result of the ordinance, it is now illegal “for any person to knowingly transport any individual for the purpose of providing or obtaining an elective abortion, regardless of where the elective abortion will occur” as long as such activity "begins, ends, or passes through” King County.

This means it is now illegal to use the sections of U.S. Highway 82 / State Highway 114, U.S. Highway 83, State Highway 222, and all sections of all other roads found in King County for the purpose of abortion trafficking. The ordinance is part of a cultural shift that looks at abortion trafficking the same way as drug trafficking or sex trafficking, and is intentionally written to facilitate the end of abortion throughout the United States. By joining Dickens County to the west, Motley County to the northwest, King County’s measure helps expand the unified ‘Wall of Ordinances’ against abortion trafficking across Texas.

The ordinance also prohibits abortion-inducing drugs within King County, prohibits Texas waste management companies from transporting and disposing of aborted fetal remains from any out-of-state abortion provider within King County, and declares the organizations in violation of the federal Comstock Act – which prohibits the mailing and receiving of abortion inducing drugs and abortion paraphernalia – to be criminal organizations, prohibiting such organizations from operating within King County.

Private enforcement mechanism

The ordinance is not enforced by King County, its elected officials, or any of their employees. Instead of being enforced criminally, the law is enforced civilly by private citizens. This is the same way the Texas Heartbeat Act is enforced: through a private enforcement mechanism that allows private citizens to file a lawsuit against anyone in violation of the law. The King County SCFTU ordinance does not allow any lawsuit to be filed against the mother of the unborn child, but only against the abortionist and those who are aiding or abetting the abortionist in the killing of an unborn child.

The Thriving Texas Families Program

In addition to strong protections for pregnant mothers and their unborn children, the King County SCFTU ordinance also educates about the statewide Thriving Texas Families Program, which helps connect pregnant mothers to a variety of resources through centers listed on the Texas Pregnancy Care Network website and The Pregnancy Network website.

More political subdivisions expected to follow

King County is not expected to be the last political subdivision to prohibit abortion within its jurisdiction. Those who wish to see their county or city go as far as they can to protect pregnant mothers and their unborn children from the violence of abortion are encouraged to sign the online petition on the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn website.