EAST MOUNTAIN, Texas (KETK) – Another small East Texas city has declared itself a “sanctuary city for the unborn.”
East Mountain Texas, population of just 797, is nestled in Upshur and Gregg Counties between U.S. HWYs 271 and 259.
On Monday night, they joined a growing list of tiny Texas communities that are passing ordinances that outlaw abortions. The move is largely symbolic, as none of the towns have an abortion clinic in their city limits, or even near them.
The movement began in June of 2019 after the city of Waskom passed the first known such ordinance in the country.
The ordinance declared Roe vs. Wade and other laws permitting abortion “to be unconstitutional usurpations of judicial power, which violate both the Tenth Amendment the Republican Form of Government Clause, and are null and void in the City of Waskom.”
Other East Texas cities that have passed such ordinances include:
Back in February, the ACLU sued many of these towns, writing in a statement that “These ordinances are unconstitutional. Abortion is legal in every state and city in the country, and cities cannot punish pro-abortion organizations for carrying out their important work – especially when they do so in a way that violates their First Amendment rights.”
However, the lawsuit was dropped in May amidst the rise of the coroanvirus pandemic.
