The city council of East Mountain, Texas agreed to an ordinance prohibiting abortion within the city limits in a 3-0 vote with 2 abstentions, making it the 14th city in the state to declare itself a “sanctuary of the unborn.” Another Texas town, Waskom was the first to pass such an ordinance in June of last year. Since then, several other towns in Texas have followed their lead.
 
The ordinance does not prevent an individual from having an abortion outside of the East Mountain city limits but does prohibit abortion facilities from being built or abortion services from being provided within the city. Under the ordinances, if Roe v. Wade is overturned, abortionists and anyone assisting them will be fined for every abortion they conduct within the city limits. It does not, however,  impose penalties on the pregnant woman.
 
The ordinance includes a provision granting virtually any surviving relative of the aborted child a cause of action against those involved in the abortion, except the mother, for compensatory and punitive damages, as well as attorney’s fees. There is no statute of limitations on this cause of action.
 
Some city officials have opposed the effort, citing concerns about the potential for opening up their cities to lawsuits. So far, the only legal challenge to the cities has come from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which didn’t argue against the abortion ban itself, but rather against the ordinances’ designation of specific organizations as “criminal” because of their provided services. Their case was dropped in May after the cities agreed to amend the ordinances by removing the criminalizing language.

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