Clarendon City Council rejects ordinance banning travel to access abortion outside of Texas

LUBBOCK — The City Council of Clarendon, a rural Panhandle town, rejected a proposed ordinance seeking to prohibit traveling through city limits to get an abortion in another state. Their 3-0 decision on Thursday makes Clarendon one of the first cities in Texas to reject an abortion travel ban as more conservative cities are approving similar measures.

Council members heard from people for and against the “Sanctuary City for the Unborn” initiative Thursday. It was the second time city leaders for Clarendon, a town of just over 1,700 people lying about 60 miles southeast of Amarillo, heard arguments on the issue. The council cited current state law in their decision.

“Our business is making sure our city gets water, streets to drive on, trash is taken out and much more,” said Eulaine McIntosh, a Clarendon council member. “We’re not allowed to take action beyond state law, and this ordinance comes very close to overstepping state law.”

Clarendon is located in bright red Donley County, where 87% of voters supported Donald Trump over Joe Biden.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/10/texas-panhandle-abortion-travel/

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I am providing this article because the thread in LBN that was from Newsweek was poorly written and somewhat misleading. It is ironic that the city is not allowed to take action beyond state law because of legislation passed by the GOP in 2023 and signed into law by Gov. Abbott.