Fight over Texas anti-abortion transport bans reaches biggest battlegrounds yet

By Julia Harte

(Reuters) -Commissioners in Lubbock County, Texas, on Monday voted to outlaw the act of transporting another person along their roads for an abortion, part of a strategy by conservative activists to further restrict abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

The move makes Lubbock the biggest jurisdiction yet to pass such a restriction on abortion-related transportation since the June 2022 end of Roe, which had granted a nationwide right to abortion. Six cities and counties in Texas have passed the bans, out of nine that have considered them.

A few hours north, the Amarillo City Council on Tuesday will weigh its own law, which could lead to a future council or city-wide vote.

Lubbock and Amarillo are both traversed by major highways that connect Texas, which has one of the country's most stringent abortion laws, to neighboring New Mexico, where abortion is legal.

Anti-abortion activists backing the proposals say they are meant to bolster Texas' existing abortion ban, which allows private citizens to sue anyone who provides or "aids or abets" an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.

Several supporters who spoke at the Lubbock meeting were affiliated with anti-abortion organizations near the New Mexico-Texas border.

"Every day we see cars pulling into the abortion clinic, most often women with Texas license plates," said Jewel Navarrette of Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Opponents of the measure said it would frighten abortion seekers but not reduce abortions.

"Travel bans are unconstitutional, folks," said Shelley Kemp, a Lubbock resident.

No violations have been reported in the five jurisdictions that previously adopted the bans, and their reliance on citizen enforcement makes them difficult to challenge in court.

The greater impact of the ordinances so far appears to be how each side is using them to galvanize voters and pursue bigger political goals heading into an election year in which abortion remains a hot-button issue.

Lubbock County Judge Curtis Parrish said at Monday's meeting that he knew some attendees had come "to make threats to the gentlemen here on the dais in order to get people elected that will push your personal political agendas."

Parrish said he supported the measure's intent, but that it needed to be amended to recognize the limited legislative power of the county. "I continue to wonder what this ordinance is trying to legally accomplish," he said.

He joined another commissioner in abstaining from a vote, while three commissioners voted for the measure.

BOTH SIDES MOBILIZING

The campaign to ban abortion-related transit in Texas was started by Mark Lee Dickson, a Christian pastor who began pushing communities to outlaw abortion by declaring themselves "sanctuary cities for the unborn" in 2019.

At Monday's meeting in Lubbock County, Dickson stressed the importance of passing the transport ban at a time "where a lot is changing in our culture." He described the current U.S. government as the "most aggressive pro-abortion administration in the history of America."

Dickson travels widely to pitch his measures. He also mobilizes supporters to unseat local leaders who oppose the proposals, with the aim of electing officials who will also push other far-right policies.

He took that approach in Odessa's city elections in 2022 after the council initially blocked one of his "sanctuary city for the unborn" proposals. Dickson responded by marshaling support for council candidates who pledged to approve it.

Once elected, the candidates he backed not only declared Odessa a "sanctuary city," but also adopted the state's first abortion transport ban and took other steps Dickson supported, such as rejecting state and federal COVID-19-related mandates.

"This isn't over just when you address one issue," Dickson said in an interview ahead of Monday's vote.

Not all backers of abortion restrictions support Dickson's transport bans, however.

Amarillo Mayor Cole Stanley said he supported Dickson's "sanctuary city" movement, but is concerned that the transport bans rely on civil enforcement and do not clarify what local authorities are expected to do, potentially entangling the city in investigations brought by private actors.

The debates over the transport bans are spurring new shows of support for abortion access.

In Lubbock County, Kimberleigh Gonzalez organized a local Facebook group of 1,100 reproductive rights supporters to show their opposition to the measure at Monday's meeting.

The group formed after Lubbock voters approved a "sanctuary city" ordinance backed by Dickson in May 2021. Each new attack on reproductive rights "brings us together a little more tightly," Gonzalez said.

"Since 2021, I know a lot of people personally that are involved that weren't before, and it just continues to grow and strengthen," she said.

Abortion rights supporters, including four abortion funds in Texas, said they expected the transport bans to backfire on the anti-abortion movement by galvanizing political participation from abortion rights advocates in the lead-up to next year's presidential election.

"We're going to make sure that there are political and electoral consequences for this," said Rachel O'Leary Carmona, executive director of the Women's March activist organization.

(Reporting by Julia HarteEditing by Colleen Jenkins and Leslie Adler)