That changed when the Amarillo City Council took up a proposed abortion travel ban in October. The debate put an unfamiliar spotlight on the city ā activists flocked to Amarillo, national organizations joined local efforts, and council members' phones rang off the hook.
Adding to the public interest was how the council responded to it. Led by Mayor Cole Stanley, the five-member council said they would not
rush to approve it. Unlike other city and county officials, Amarilloās leaders punted the issue in a rare step that would allow more thoughtful consideration and input from residents.
The conversation is set to continue. The council announced Tuesday it will consider the ordinance during a Dec. 19 meeting. The council will use that meeting to navigate āthe right way forward,ā Stanley said. The news comes as Texas
makes national headlines once again for its restrictive abortion laws ā a Dallas woman left the state this week to terminate a non-viable pregnancy after a losing legal battle to obtain one here.
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Council members have not signaled how they could change the ordinance since it was originally presented.
With a vote on the travel ban in Amarillo looming, residents including abortion activists, health care workers and legal professionals, are worried. Their top concern: This ordinance would create an atmosphere of fear and make it more difficult to access standard health care in this largely rural area of the state where people have to travel long ways for care as is.
āSo many rural counties are maternal health care deserts, and things like this ordinance just worsens it,ā said Fariha Samad, an Amarillo resident and member of the Amarillo Reproductive Freedom Alliance. āIt creates an atmosphere of fear.ā
Even though Texas has a near-total ban, the proposed travel ordinances are the next fight for access. The so-called travel ban would outlaw the use of Amarilloās roads to transport a pregnant person for an abortion in another state, opening the door for lawsuits from private Texans against anyone who āaids and abetā the procedure. The lawsuits are the only enforcement mechanism for the ordinance.
