On Monday, September 14, the City Council of Jayton, Texas (pop. 511) considered an ordinance further outlawing abortion and abortion trafficking and declaring the City of Jayton a Sanctuary City for the Unborn. The ordinance was considered about an hour after the city council of Snyder (pop. 11,251) – located about 50 miles southwest of Jayton – considered an ordinance identical in substance.
While the Snyder City Council unanimously voted 6-0 to approve the ordinance on its first reading vote, the Jayton City Council voted 4-1 to table the measure to be considered at its next council meeting. After the vote, Mayor Joseph Buerkle clarified that the council would revisit the ordinance at the next meeting after members further reviewed the documents presented during the meeting.
Pastor Blake Appleby of First Baptist Church of Jayton, who was present for the Jayton City Council meeting, shared, “I celebrate with our neighbors in Snyder in thanking their city leaders for standing up for unborn life. Many of us here in Jayton are praying for them, and I am glad our own City Council is considering declaring Jayton a Sanctuary City for the Unborn.”
Pastor Appleby continued, “Passing this ordinance reflects who we are. It honors human life and gives mothers in difficult situations practical support. As our leaders continue these discussions, I pray Jayton remains a place where mothers and their unborn babies are truly protected.”
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The Jayton City Council is now set to re-consider the measure on Tuesday, September 22.
If adopted Jayton Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinances will: (1) Prohibit elective abortions and the aiding or abetting of elective abortions within the City of Jayton by extending the private enforcement mechanism of the Texas Heartbeat Act from the point of detectable heartbeat to the point of fertilization; (2) Prohibit elective abortions on residents of the City of Jayton – regardless of where the abortion takes place; (3) Prohibit abortion traffickers and abortion trafficking organizations from trafficking women, including minors, through the City of Jayton for abortions across state lines; (4) Prohibit abortion-inducing drugs from being mailed into the City of Jayton by the creation of a localized private right of action, serving as an additional deterrent against out-of-state abortion pill distributors; (5) Recognize any organization involved in the mailing and receiving of abortion inducing drugs and abortion paraphernalia as criminal abortion organizations in violation of the federal Comstock Act and prohibit such organizations from doing business within the City of Jayton; and (6)Prohibit Texas waste management companies from transporting through the City of Jayton the remains of dead babies that have been aborted at abortion facilities outside the State of Texas and brought back into Texas for disposal as trash in landfills.
The Jayton Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance is enforced the same way the Texas Heartbeat Act is enforced: through a private enforcement mechanism that allows private citizens to file suit against any individual or organization violating the ordinance. The ordinance does not, however, allow any action to be taken against the mother of the unborn child.
In August 2023, 20 Texas Senators and Representatives penned a letter supporting cities and counties passing such measures across the State of Texas. The letter read: “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. These ordinances, which seek to close as many loopholes as possible, do not penalize women who seek or undergo abortions, but place the penalty on the party who most deserves it – the abortionist and the industry profiting from the unjust procedure, including abortion traffickers.”
Since August 2023, over 50 political subdivisions have passed ordinances identical in substance to the proposed Jayton Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance.
If the Jayton City Council adopts the measure the city will become the 100th city to outlaw abortion in the nation, and the 83rd city to outlaw abortion in the State of Texas. Currently, a total of 123 political subdivisions (99 cities and 24 counties) have passed local laws outlawing abortion across the United States, including 104 (82 cities and 22 counties) in Texas.
Citizens wanting to see their city or county pass an ordinance to further protect pregnant mothers and their unborn children from the tragedy of abortion are encouraged to sign the online petition.
LifeNews Note: Mark Lee Dickson lives in Texas and is the founder of the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Initiative.
