Dickens County is 11th in Texas to pass Sanctuary County for the Unborn Ordinance

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

On the morning of November 10, the Commissioners’ Court of Dickens County, Texas, passed an ordinance outlawing abortion and abortion trafficking within the unincorporated area of Dickens County.

The measure was approved in a 4-1 vote. Judge Kevin Brendle and County Commissioners Chris Horn, Dennis Wyatt, and Mike Smith voted in favor of the measure, while County Commissioner Greg Arnold voted against the measure. 

The passage made Dickens County (pop. 1,725) the 11th 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), and Hopkins (pop. 38,784) counties — and the 96th political subdivision to outlaw abortion in the United States. 

State lawmakers' political support:

The effort to see political subdivisions throughout Texas outlaw abortion trafficking through the Sanctuaries for the Unborn initiative is supported by lawmakers across Texas. Dickens County is represented by two of the most outspoken legislators in support of the Sanctuary for the Unborn Initiative: Texas House District 83’s Representative Dustin Burrows, who also serves as House Speaker, and Senate District 28’s Senator Charles Perry.

In a letter written to cities and counties across Texas, Burrows and Perry joined 18 other legislators across the State to encourage local officials to consider the passage of Sanctuary for the Unborn ordinances. The letter states:

“While it is true that abortion is outlawed in the entire State of Texas, from the point of conception, our work is far from over. Right now, throughout the State of Texas, women are being trafficked across our borders by abortion traffickers funded by abortion trafficking organizations still operating in our state.

As a result, these women are being abused and traumatized by abortion across our Texas-New Mexico border and sent back to Texas for our cities and counties to deal with the aftermath taking place in our homes, our schools, our churches, and our hospitals. The Sanctuary for the Unborn ordinances seek to protect these institutions by putting safeguards in place to protect men, women, and their children for years to come....

While we intend to do our part to keep our strong pro-life protections for mothers and their unborn children, we believe it will help for cities and counties to do their part as well. As state elected officials who are trusted by Pro-Life Texans to stand for life at every available opportunity, we believe this is a viable and crucial opportunity for local governments to protect their most vulnerable members. We look forward to partnering with you as we seek to defend innocent human life at every level of government.

Therefore, we... respectfully encourage local government officials to do their part in the passage of ordinances outlawing abortion and abortion trafficking and declaring their cities and counties Sanctuaries for the Unborn.”

Citizen Initiatives:

In May 2021, about an hour away from Dickens County, voters in the City of Lubbock passed their measure in a landslide election with 62% of voters voting in favor of their Sanctuary City for the Unborn Ordinance.

While the laws of the State of Texas allow certain “home rule” cities the ability to place such measures before their voters through a citizen initiative process, County Attorney Aaron Clements stated that the laws of the State of Texas did not give the County the ability to place such a question before their voters.

After a time of discussion, County Commissioner Chris Horn made a motion to pass the measure. Commissioner Horn stated that because the Texas Legislature gave counties the authority to pass such measures, and the measure aligned with his beliefs and values, he felt comfortable adopting the measure. The Judge and the majority of the commissioners agreed, resulting in the measure being adopted as the law of Dickens County. 

The Ordinance:

The Dickens County Sanctuary County for the Unborn Ordinance prohibits elective abortions and the aiding or abetting of elective abortions within the unincorporated area of Dickens 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 Dickens 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 Dickens 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 the unincorporated area of Dickens County.”

This means it is now illegal to use the sections of U.S. Highway 82/State Highway 114, State Highway 70, and State Highway 208, and all sections of all other roads found in the unincorporated area of Dickens 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.

The ordinance also prohibits abortion-inducing drugs within the unincorporated area of Dickens County, prohibits Texas waste management companies from transporting and disposing of aborted fetal remains from any out-of-state abortion provider within the unincorporated area of Dickens County, and prohibits criminal abortion organizations from operating within the unincorporated area of Dickens County.

Like the Texas Heartbeat Act, the county ordinance is only enforced through a private enforcement mechanism, allowing lawsuits to be filed by citizens against anyone who violates the ordinance. The 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 assisting the abortionist in the killing of a woman's unborn child. 

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

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 tragedy of abortion are encouraged to sign the online petition on the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn website.