El Paso County Commission resolution discourages police from investigating abortion-related crimes

Days after pro-lifers showed up in force at the El Paso City Council to defeat a pro-abortion resolution, the El Paso County Commission passed a similar measure which asks law enforcement to “use discretion” when investigating now illegal abortions in the County. Measures to move police investigations of criminal abortion to a low priority status or deprioritize investigations altogether have been proposed in multiple cities — and now, counties — across the nation in the wake of the Dobbs Supreme Court case which overturned Roe v. Wade.

On July 5, pro-life groups Abortion on Trial and Southwest Coalition for Life were able to mobilize enough opposition to result in the defeat of a so-called  ‘Guarding the Right to Abortion Care for Everyone’ Act (GRACE Act) resolution in El Paso. But on August 8, the El Paso County Commissioners voted to pass a resolution that “affirms the County’s position to comply with state and federal law but that stands in solidarity with individuals impacted by state and federal laws on abortion by taking certain policy positions in support of reproductive medical care.”

Mark Cavaliere, Executive Director of Southwest Coalition for Life, said that the resolution was originally proposed during an Executive Session on July 21 where “only the members of the Commissioners Court have a right to attend an executive session.”

READ: Texas sues Biden administration for forcing hospitals to commit abortions or lose funding

In an e-mail released by the group, Cavaliere claimed the measure was elevated by County Commissioner David Stout, who reportedly “previously served as Communications Coordinator for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).” According to video testimony at the hearing, Stout placed it on the agenda.

A tweet posted by Commissioner Stout on August 9 read, “Abortion is part of reproductive health care, and while we work in Texas to change oppressive laws, I will fight for El Paso County to protect the right of women to access the health care they need. #AbortionIsHealthcare.“

The resolution calls for several pro-abortion actions, including urging “the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s Office to exercise their lawful discretion to not initiate targeted investigations and prosecutions into the crime of abortion.” In addition, the measure directs the County Attorney to “actively seek participation, as a plaintiff or amicus curia, in on-going or future litigation to protect the availability of abortion medical services in El Paso.” It also directs “that an item be added to the El Paso County Legislative Agenda that opposes any legislation that seeks to criminalize or penalize a person seeking medical care that may include an abortion.”

“We have been in contact with our legal counsel, and it seems that as a ‘resolution’ this item is mostly virtue signaling and wasting tax dollars without any enforceable municipal ordinance or code,” Cavaliere’s e-mail also states. “However, this resolution does direct an item to be added to the El Paso County Legislative Agenda at a later time, so stay tuned for the next opportunity to speak up for authentic life-affirming care for women and children.”

El Paso has seen unscrupulous abortion providers

El Paso County Commissioners’ “Support Women” document claims that “the El Paso County Commissioners Court has a responsibility to protect the health, safety, and general welfare of all its residents to include ensuring that all its residents feel free and safe to seek appropriate medical care,” but it disregards the multiple safety violations and complications that abortion poses even in the most regulated of facilities. It also disregards the horrific way that women and girls have been historically treated by the abortion industry.

In one recent example, Live Action News documented that a number of injured women have filed complaints against abortionist Franz Theard, who recently closed an abortion business in El Paso and who also faced multiple malpractice lawsuits.

In 2020, Theard was accused of a botched abortion by an abortion client who saw him at his Women’s Reproductive Clinic of Sunland Park in New Mexico. According to Abortion on Trial, video of the incident shows the abortion patient claiming that she was “in so much pain” and that she “got no answers” from the abortion facility. Theard then called the police to have the abortion client arrested, an act the pro-abortion lobby seems uninterested in condemning today. Mike Seibel, the woman’s attorney, said he has filed a complaint with the state’s medical board. Seibel accused the abortionist of patient abandonment, calling his actions “unprofessional, unethical, and borderline criminal conduct” as well as “a violation of the licensing act.”

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