Battle Emerges Over Abortion Ordinance Ballot Language

Amarillo City Council is set to officially place the petitioned-for Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance on the November ballot on Tuesday. But, even with the deadline to call the election looming, both supporters and opponents of the ordinance have criticized the proposed ballot language.

Jarad Najvar, an attorney representing the group that petitioned for the ordinance, panned a letter to Amarillo City Council warning of a possible lawsuit regarding the language. In particular, he criticized a section stating the ordinance would establish “a criminal offense for any person acts as an accomplice to the manufacture, possess, or distribute abortion-inducing drugs in the City of Amarillo, without a criminal penalty.” Najvar noted in his letter that the entire ordinance would be enforced through private civil action. “The proposition is materially misleading to voters to the extent it claims the Ordinance creates a criminal offense,” wrote Najvar. “It should instead say that it creates a civil action or civil liability.”

The proposed ordinance does indeed only contain a private right of action as its only enforcement mechanism. Despite this, a portion of the ordinance would designate organizations that mail items meant to induce abortion as criminal organizations.

Meanwhile, the Potter-Randall County Medical Society, which has expressed concerns about potential chilling effects of the ordinance, released a statement criticizing the proposed language. “Many of the physician members of our board are also pro-life, but they strongly oppose this ordinance,” the statement read. “It’s not about outlawing abortions in Amarillo. Elective abortions are already illegal in the State of Texas.” The organization also took issue with the use of the word word “trafficking,” which is used in both the ordinance and ballot language to describe transporting a woman to obtain an abortion outside of Amarillo. In a press conference, Dr. Steve Urban called trafficking “a loaded term” and suggested using the word “transporting” instead.




https://www.amarillopioneer.com/blog/2024/8/12/battle-emerges-over-abortion-ordinance-ballot-language