City of Wellman in Texas becomes 94th US ‘Sanctuary City for the Unborn’

On Monday, the City of Wellman, Texas, became the 94th "Sanctuary City for the Unborn" in the United States after the city council voted unanimously to pass the ordinance.

Key Takeaways:

• The City of Wellman, Texas, has become the 94th US city to pass a Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance.

• The ordinance aims to protect preborn children from abortion in the city.

• It also seeks to prevent mail-order abortion pills from entering the city and abortion traffickers from moving through the city, among other rules.

The Details:

On February 23, the city council of Wellman unanimously approved an “Ordinance Outlawing Abortion, declaring Wellman a Sanctuary City for the Unborn.”

After hearing a presentation by Right to Life Across Texas, City Councilmember Jake Rempel made a motion to adopt the measure. City Councilmember Cody Griffiths seconded the motion. When Mayor Eddie Garza called for a vote, City Councilmembers Jake Rempel, Cody Griffiths, and Seth Hollowell each voted in favor of the measure. 

The vote made the City of Wellman, located between Seagraves and Brownfield on United States Highway 62, the 77th City in the State of Texas and the 94th city in the nation to pass an ordinance banning abortion. The City of Wellman is also the first city in Terry County to pass such an ordinance. 

The first person to sign the petition to see Wellman become a Sanctuary City for the Unborn was Yolanda Salgado, who said she wanted to see the measure passed “because all life is sacred.” Annie Rempel was the second to sign, saying, “Abortion is murdering.” 

The Wellman Sanctuary County for the Unborn ordinance prohibits:

• Performing an elective abortion and aiding or abetting elective abortions within the city limits of Wellman.

• Elective abortions on residents of Wellman – regardless of where the abortion takes place.

• Abortion trafficking through the City of Wellman.

• The mailing of abortion-inducing drugs into the City of Wellman.

• Criminal organizations from doing business inside the city limits of Wellman.

• The transportation or disposal of the remains of unborn children who have been killed by an elective abortion across state lines and carried by waste management companies into Texas, in and through the City of Wellman. 

In the second declaration, the Wellman Sanctuary County for the Unborn ordinance states, “Abortion at all times and at all stages of pregnancy is an unlawful act, unless the abortion is performed to save the life of the pregnant woman in a medical emergency.” The term “medical emergency” is defined in the ordinance to mean “a life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy that, as certified by a physician, places the woman in danger of death or a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function unless an abortion is performed.” 

The Wellman Sanctuary County for the Unborn ordinance states, on multiple occasions, that it does not prohibit “abortions performed or induced in response to a medical emergency, or any conduct that aids or abets or attempts to aid or abet such abortions'' and is also clear that it does not prohibit “conduct taken by a licensed medical professional that is necessary to perform, induce, or facilitate an abortion in response to a medical emergency, or to ensure that the licensed medical professional is prepared to perform, induce, or facilitate an abortion in response to a medical emergency, so long as that conduct is not in any way intended to facilitate an elective abortion.” 

Induced abortion is the direct and intentional killing of preborn children and is not medically necessary, even in an emergency.

Zoom In:

The Wellman ordinance is enforced the same way the Texas Heartbeat Act is — through a private enforcement mechanism allowing private citizens to file civil lawsuits against anyone in violation of the law. 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 her unborn child — including abortion traffickers. 

The ordinance also educates about the state-funded Thriving Texas Families Program and the services provided through pregnancy care providers partnered with the Texas Pregnancy Care Network and The Pregnancy Network. 

The City of Wellman is the third city and the sixth political subdivision in 2026 to pass a Sanctuary for the Unborn ordinance, following the Texas cities of Matador and Lockney and the Texas counties of Borden, Hall, and Hood. It is not expected to be the last political subdivision in Texas to further prohibit abortion. 

The Bottom Line:

Of the 19 counties that have passed Sanctuary County for the Unborn ordinances in the United States, 17 are in Texas. Citizens who wish to see their city or county pass an ordinance to further protect pregnant mothers and their unborn children from the violence of abortion are encouraged to sign the online petition.