{"id":235097,"date":"2020-11-24T11:23:47","date_gmt":"2020-11-24T17:23:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=235097"},"modified":"2020-11-23T18:47:09","modified_gmt":"2020-11-24T00:47:09","slug":"lubbock-citizens-stand-life-right-side-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/lubbock-citizens-stand-life-right-side-justice\/","title":{"rendered":"Lubbock citizens stand for life despite failed ordinance: ‘We need to be on the right side of justice’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this guest post are solely those of the author and are not necessarily reflective of Live Action or Live Action News.<\/i><\/p>\n

The City Council of Lubbock, the 11th largest city in Texas, has unanimously voted against<\/a> an ordinance to outlaw abortion within their city limits. Texas Senator Charles Perry and Texas Representatives Dustin Burrows and John Frullo had sent a letter<\/a> on August 25th to Mayor Dan Pope, encouraging him to pass an ordinance similar to one passed in 14 other cities throughout Texas. Since that ordinance was given to the Mayor of Lubbock, the cities of\u00a0New Home<\/a> and Morton<\/a> voted to adopt the ordinance, becoming the 15th and 16th cities to outlaw abortion in the nation.<\/p>\n

The City of Lubbock hired Olson & Olson, an outside law firm from Houston, Texas, to review the ordinance. Right To Life of East Texas, West Texas For Life, Pro-Life Waco, and Texas Right To Life \u2014 which is the largest and oldest pro-life organization in the State of Texas \u2014\u00a0have all raised concern over the city’s hiring of the firm to review the ordinance due to the law firm’s family ties to Planned Parenthood. Olson & Olson met with the Lubbock City Council on Tuesday, October 13, in a meeting closed to the public. Olson & Olson’s legal opinion was that the ordinance is unconstitutional.<\/p>\n

At this, seven Lubbock residents took advantage of the Lubbock City Charter\u2019s Initiative and Referendum which allowed for a process to gather enough signatures to force the ordinance to a vote by the city council. If the council voted down the ordinance then it could go before a public vote by Lubbock residents in the next uniform election. The amount of verified signatures needed to force the vote was 3,651 verified signatures. In two weeks, over 5,000 signatures were collected by the people of Lubbock and a hearing was set for November 17, 2020, forcing the city council to hear and vote on the ordinance.<\/p>\n

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Photo (Lubbock): Mark Lee Dickson<\/p><\/div>\n

Over 150 residents spoke before the council regarding the ordinance, and the majority were in favor of it. David Rhoades, Pastor of Broadview Baptist Church, criticized the legal advice the council received as \u201cpoor, and fundamentally incorrect.\u201d Pastor Rhoades went on to quote section 1.07 of the Texas Penal Code which defines an individual as, \u201cA human being who is alive, including an unborn child at every stage of gestation. From fertilization until birth.\u201d Rhodes argued that, according to the legal definition, accidental and intentional deaths of unborn individuals carry the potential for civil and criminal penalties. \u201cIn addition to the Texas Penal Code, Title 10, Chapter 22:72 of the Texas Government Code specifically allows cities and counties to prohibit abortion within their jurisdictions. Both codes in Texas establish a simple fact: there exist no legitimate legal reason to keep this city council from passing the proposed ordinance, and the fear that the City of Lubbock could be sued should be assuaged by the fact that the ACLU has withdrawn its lawsuits on this matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Lubbock resident Marty Gregory shared her reasoning for wanting to see abortion outlawed, Mayor Pope chided her for referencing her faith. \u201cWith all due respect, this is not about your beliefs or the Lord\u2019s belief, it\u2019s about the ordinance.\u201d As another resident spoke about Planned Parenthood and the selling of baby body parts, Mayor Pope stopped her mid-sentence, saying, \u201cMrs. Whittenberg, baby parts have nothing to do with the ordinance. The argument is about a Sanctuary City for the Unborn. Not about Planned Parenthood.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the most passionate testimonies of the night was that of Shonda McCay Rodriguez. As Rodriguez began to share a quote from Princeton University\u2019s website regarding life beginning at conception, Mayor Pope quickly interrupted her. \u201cLet me interrupt for one second. We\u2019re not arguing that tonight. This is about the ordinance. Please.\u201d Rodriguez was quick to defend her statements. \u201cYes sir. I understand that . . . but you are telling me that Roe v. Wade is the \u2018law of the land\u2019 and that we are sticking to the \u2018law of the land\u2019 . . . I have heard you quote that in this argument, in this discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pope: \u201cI\u2019m not telling you anything . . . We are talking about our ordinance. Sanctuary City for the Unborn. That\u2019s what the discussion needs about, okay?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Rodriguez: \u201cYes, but I am getting to the point that human life is valuable . . . and I am describing where that life begins. That is crucial to this argument.\u201c<\/em><\/p>\n

Pope: \u201cWe have heard that. How many times have we heard that tonight? You haven\u2019t talked about the ordinance yet. You have taken me through slavery and through civil rights, Let\u2019s talk about the ordinance okay?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Rodriguez: \u201cYes sir. Those are human rights injustices and I believe that if we do not pass this ordinance then we are committing yet another human rights injustice by saying we do not value the lives of the unborn. That is my entire point. It is that we need to be on the right side of justice in this case . . . there are so many times in history when we have not been that and I would like, as a city, for us to choose that. The citizens of Lubbock have made it glaringly obvious by the number of signatures we so quickly gathered, that we as a city stand for life and we hope you will stand with us.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n