All five members of an entirely-male city council of Waskom in Texas, US, have voted to prohibit abortion within the town’s limits.
The vote prohibits most abortions, leaving exceptions in the case of rape, incest or serious risk to the mother's life.
There are no clinics that perform abortions in the east Texas town, which lies on the border with Louisiana, but the council decided that prohibiting the procedure was necessary and declared Waskom a ‘sanctuary for the unborn’.
City leaders expressed concern that Louisiana’s new, tighter abortion restrictions could lead women to travel to Waskom, which has a population of about 2000, for the procedure.
It is part of a wider movement of abortion restrictions sweeping the US.
'Standing for life'
In Texas, abortion has already been banned after 20 weeks. Now in the state, a bill awaiting the governor’s signature would require doctors to treat “a child born alive after an abortion,” which happens rarely.
Right to Life of East Texas director Mark Lee Dickson said the vote on Tuesday means the town is “standing for life.”
“We decided to take things into our own hands and that we have got to do something to protect our cities and to protect the unborn children,” he said.
The ordinance refers to groups that provide abortion services as “criminal organisations.”
Mayor Jesse Moore cautioned other council members that they may be sued for passing the ban.
But residents said they were not concerned by the threat of a lawsuit because “God will take care of them.”
'We will not be intimidated'
NARAL Pro-Choice Texas executive director Aimee Arrambide said the order was a “dangerous attempt” to undermine Roe vs Wade, a supreme court decision that essentially legalised abortion in the US in 1973.
“We will not be intimidated,” she said.
“Every Texan, regardless of income or geographical location deserves access to the full range of reproductive healthcare, including abortion.”
Waskom modelled its ban on a similar resolution in Roswell, New Mexico, which declared its support for "foetal life" in March.
Abortion rights advocates to oppose state laws in Texas recently enacted that impose strict restrictions on abortion. Source: Austin American-Statesman
Nearly 30 US states have introduced some form of restriction on abortion so far this year.
Fifteen of these bans, in states such as Louisiana and Georgia, forbids abortion as soon as a foetal heartbeat can be detected, around the six-week mark of a pregnancy.
In May, Alabama lawmakers passed a bill to outlaw abortion outright.
Other states have acted to protect abortion rights should Roe v Wade be overturned.
On Wednesday, Illinois passed laws to protect or expand abortion access, following Maine, New York, Vermont and Nevada.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, a group that researches sexual and reproductive health, 19 US states have laws that could be used to restrict abortion, while 10 states have laws that protect abortion rights.
