The following article was originally published by JAYME LOZANO CARVER and JUAN SALINAS II from the Texas Tribune on June 11, 2024.
A group of anti-abortion advocates must now decide whether they want the city voters to have the final say on their proposed policy.
After months of debate, the Amarillo City Council rejected a so-called abortion travel ban, championed by statewide anti-abortion activists and certain residents.
The council’s decision made Amarillo the largest conservative Texas city to reject the proposed policy, which would forbid the use of the city’s roads and highways to seek an abortion out of state. Now, a group of residents who petitioned for the ordinance will decide if the issue goes to voters in the Texas Panhandle city this fall.
In rejecting the proposal, Amarillo Mayor Cole Stanley said the city has no authority to put the proposed policy in place.
“What you’re asking me to do is put forward this ordinance and enact it into city law, that would exercise an authority I don’t believe I have,” Stanley said.
The council first debated the issue last fall when a string of other Texas cities and counties passed similar local laws, which abortion rights advocates and legal experts consider dubious and unconstitutional.
Amarillo residents, backed by Texas anti-abortion activist Mark Lee Dickson, forced the council to revisit the issue this year after they gathered enough petition signatures of registered voters.
Two versions of the ordinance were considered during Tuesday’s meeting. Both were rejected on a 4-1 vote. Only Council member Don Tipps supported the policies. The packed council chambers erupted into cheers and clapping when the mayor made the vote final.
One was the original ordinance proposed last year by anti-abortion advocates who don’t live in Amarillo. The other was an amended version, a compromise from the petitioning committee. That version offered few differences.
After hours of public comment, council members still had questions. Council member Tom Scherlen asked if companies that cover abortion in their insurance plans would be liable for aiding and abetting.
Steve Austin, a representative with the petitioning committee, encouraged this to be voted in and make it illegal, saying the companies would follow the law.
“In my opinion, that is communism,” Scherlen argued. “Where I come from, you don’t dictate the law.”
The city and its residents have been entangled in the abortion debate for several months. Part of the council’s hesitation has been the strict state law, which bans nearly all abortions once a heartbeat is detected, except if the mother’s life is in danger. Even then, doctors argue the laws are confusing.
