A report reveals that the pro-life sanctuary city movement is gaining momentum as more towns and cities now adopt an anti-abortion legislation.
Faithwire announced that the pro-life sanctuary movement is "outlawing abortion one city at a time" as it reaches Lebanon, Ohio where there are no abortion clinics and where legislators "decided it was strategic to preemptively outlaw abortion" by being "pro-active" about it through city ordinance 2021-053. The outlet said the ordinance was passed unanimously by the city council last May after hearing public comment on it for four hours.
As previously reported, Lebanon, Ohio became the first "Sanctuary City For The Unborn" in the state. Mayor Amy Brewer said the ordinance was released out of deciding "whats good for our community today." An act Ohio Right To Life praised since residents "made their voices abundantly clear" that "Planned Parenthood isn't welcome in our city."
"Sometimes being an elected official means you step out and you take a stand on things. Without being pro-active, something like this could come into our community and we would be unable to stop it," Brewer said during an interview with CBN News on the legislation.
Brewer pointed out that the ordinance does not interfere with health care as raised by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio. Brewer said individuals would still have "those same opportunities" and "those same resources" along with the same "ability to make the decision as they've always had" since local health care is provided for free for those facing unwanted pregnancies.
Planned parenthood claims it is "unconstitutional," as it had with all the lawsuits it filed on ordinances against the "sanctuary of the unborn," since it prevents them in providing comprehensive "reproductive health care" to women and "seriously impede access to abortion" for women.
Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region Kersha Deibel said in a statement in ACLU of Ohio that it will "continue to fight" in securing abortion especially for the young people in the state.
"This law directly undermines the value of the individual lives of everyone in Ohio who has had an abortion or may need an abortion in the future, and our strong and diverse coalition will continue to fight to secure access to abortion care in Ohio, especially for young people, people of color, people in poverty, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, and people of varying immigration status who will always be the most impacted by this kind of oppressive legislation," Deibel said.
Faithwire revealed that sanctuary of the unborn movement was founded by Mark Lee Dickson based on Amos 5:15 which raises the need to pursue justice in the city gate or courts. The outlet said the first local ordinance banning abortion in the country was in Waskom, Texas, making it the first sanctuary of the unborn in the United States. There are now 29 cities in Texas who have adopted the same ordinance along with two cities in Nebraska.
Early this month, Texas achieved its 24th sanctuary when the city's declaration of it being a "sanctuary for the unborn" was supported by a federal judge against Planned Parenthood who filed a lawsuit on it through ACLU of Texas for being "unconstitutional."
Lubbock is said to be the biggest "sanctuary for the unborn."Its citizens themselves voted for the ordinance (62%) that prohibits abortions. Lubbock was then followed by Abernathy and Poyner as the 25th and 26th sanctuaries of the unborn in Texas, respectively.
The movement has actually classified cities in Texas as either "sanctuaries," "potentials," "denying," and "cities of death." Austin is the only city tagged as a "City of Death" while Mineral Wells, Omaha, Jacksboro, Lindale, Carthage, Coahoma, Wilson, and Rising Star as "Denying Cities."
The movement provides assistance to individuals and groups wishing to spread to movement in their city. It details the process on how to go about declaring a city as a "sanctuary for the unborn" and provides an online petition to outlaw abortion.
