After pause, this Texas city (Amarillo) is set to reconsider banning travel to access an abortion

Source: Texas Tribune

After pause, this Texas city is set to reconsider banning travel to access an abortion

A handful of local governments have already put the legally dubious bans in place. The news that Amarillo will take the issue up again comes shortly after a Dallas woman left the state for an abortion after losing a legal battle to obtain one here.

BY JAYME LOZANO CARVER
DEC. 13, 2023
14 HOURS AGO

AMARILLO — Near the tip of the top of the state, Amarillo is far from the Capitol in Austin, Dallas’ busy downtown, and Houston’s congested highways. The “floating” city in the Panhandle is often forgotten by much of the state, residents say. Most of the country has never heard of their home.

That changed when the Amarillo City Council took up a proposed abortion travel ban in October. The debate put an unfamiliar spotlight on the city — activists flocked to Amarillo, national organizations joined local efforts, and council members' phones rang off the hook.

Adding to the public interest was how the council responded to it. Led by Mayor Cole Stanley, the five-member council said they would not rush to approve it. Unlike other city and county officials, Amarillo’s leaders punted the issue in a rare step that would allow more thoughtful consideration and input from residents.

The conversation is set to continue. The council announced Tuesday it will consider the ordinance during a Dec. 19 meeting. The council will use that meeting to navigate “the right way forward,” Stanley said. The news comes as Texas makes national headlines once again for its restrictive abortion laws — a Dallas woman left the state this week to terminate a non-viable pregnancy after a losing legal battle to obtain one here.

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Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/13/abortion-travel-ban-amarillo-texas/

Alternate link: https://news.yahoo.com/pause-texas-city-set-reconsider-110000886.html