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

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

On November 24, the full Commissioners’ Court of Howard County, Texas, unanimously (5-0) voted to pass an ordinance outlawing abortion and abortion trafficking within the unincorporated area of Howard County.

After hearing a presentation from Right to Life Across Texas and after hearing from six residents in favor of the measure and five residents against it, Precinct 3 Commissioner Jimmie Long made a motion to adopt the ordinance outlawing abortion and declaring Howard County a Sanctuary County for the Unborn (SCFTU). Precinct 4 Commissioner Doug Wagner seconded the motion. Upon a vote of the full court, Judge Randy Johnson announced the vote to be a 5-0 passage of the measure. 

Community Leaders Celebrate Vote

The vote was celebrated by many leaders from throughout the community.

Pastor Chance Nichols of Christ Fellowship Church shared:

“The County Commissioners did a great job representing their constituents today. This is a conservative, pro-life county, and this ordinance reflects the beliefs of the people.

As a county, we may not be able to stop Texas women traveling to other states to receive abortions, but we can say that abortion traffickers cannot use our roads to get them there. We may not be able to stop waste management companies from taking the remains of aborted babies from California to the Dallas-Fort Worth area to be inhumanely disposed of, but we can say that they cannot use our roads to get them there.

Our Commissioners stood for justice today. May many more do likewise.” 

Pastor Chris Cunningham of Hillcrest Bible Church shared:

“I am thankful for the decision to honor the Lord’s command to govern with just laws that honor and protect life. I am thankful for the opportunity to speak on behalf of Hillcrest Bible Church and being able to have my voice heard in the court.

I want to personally thank the Commissioners, Mark Dickson, and everyone else who came together today to not only protect the lives of the unborn but honored the Lord by heeding His Word.”

Shannon Thomason, the former Mayor of Big Spring, also celebrated the decision. Thomason shared:

“Today’s unanimous vote approving the ordinance in making Howard County a Sanctuary County for the Unborn is an immensely satisfying cap on almost three years worth of work. I couldn’t be happier with the result.” 

The Ordinance

The Howard County SCFTU Ordinance prohibits elective abortions and the aiding or abetting of elective abortions within the unincorporated area of Howard 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 Howard 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 Howard 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 Howard County.”

This means it is now illegal to use the sections of  Interstate 20, Interstate 20 Business, U.S. Highway 87, State Highway 176, State Highway 350, and all sections of all other roads found in the unincorporated area of Howard 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 Howard 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 Howard County, and prohibits criminal abortion organizations from operating within the unincorporated area of Howard 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 her unborn child. 

In addition to having strong protections for pregnant mothers and their unborn children, the Howards County SCFTU 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. 

What the Ordinance Does Not Do

Contrary to the widely broadcast claims of local opposition to the measure, the Howard County SCFTU Ordinance does not prohibit women from going to hospitals for emergency medical care in Big Spring or in larger cities like Lubbock, Odessa, Abilene, or San Angelo.

The ordinance specifically notes that the term “abortion” does not include an “act performed with the purpose to: save the life or preserve the health of the unborn child; remove a child caused by spontaneous abortion [miscarriage]; or remove an ectopic pregnancy, the implantation of a fertilized egg or embryo outside of the uterus.”

The ordinance further defines “elective abortion” as “any abortion that is not performed or induced in response to a medical emergency” and defines “medical emergency” as “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.”

Throughout the ordinance it is also clear that the ordinance 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.”

Abortion trafficking prohibitions have been in place in Lubbock County since October 2023 and have been in place in Odessa, Abilene, and San Angelo since 2022. 

Howard County resident Chase Pinkerton, shared:

“It would be a shame if women in need of emergency medical care do not go to emergency rooms due to misinformation spread by Shiloh Salazar in local news outlets. This kind of reckless misinformation is what puts women's lives in danger.”

Sanctuaries for the Unborn Initiatives

The passage made Howard County (pop. 34,860) the 12th 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), and Dickens (pop. 1,725) counties — and the 99th 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.  

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.