GILMER, Texas (KETK) – The City of Gilmer has passed the sixth ordinance in East Texas outlawing abortion Tuesday night in what has become a growing trend among small cities in East Texas.
The City of Gilmer has decided to call themselves a “Safe Haven” instead of a Sanctuary City, according to the Right to Life of East Texas organization who has been following the movement.
The director of the East Texas Right to Life Mark Lee Dickson has been spearheading the effort. He celebrated Monday night that the city of Tenaha was the latest to unanimously declare itself a “sanctuary city for the unborn.”
The first to pass such an ordinance into law was Waskom back in June. So far, none of the cities that have passed ordinances, including Gilmer, actually have abortion clinics within their city limits.
The Lilith Fund for Reproductive Equity put up billboards on I-20 outside of Waskom to protest the decision. The sign reads “Abortion is Freedom.”
On social media, the group wrote: “Abortion is still legal in Waskom, every city in Texas, and in all 50 states. No publicity stunt will ever change that.”
So far, none of the cities that have passed such ordinances have faced court challenges. They would violate the Supreme Court’s 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade decision that permits abortion in the United States.
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