On Monday, Oct. 23, Lubbock became the largest county in Texas to approve the abortion travel ban. What this ban does is prevent those who are pregnant from traveling on local roads to receive an abortion out of state. The abortion travel bans will be enforced through private lawsuits against the people who are assisting pregnant Texans out of state to get the procedure; those who are pregnant will not face legal action.
Anti-abortion activists and commissioners are calling Lubbock a “sanctuary city for the unborn.” They have also started using the term “abortion trafficking” to describe this ordinance, which is the transportation of someone to a state where they can receive legal abortions. Lawmakers such as Dustin Burrows, Carl Tepper and state Sen. Charles Perry are claiming that “women are being abused and traumatized by ‘abortion trafficking.’” There is no evidence that their claims are true, and they are using this term to make it sound like they are trying to help and protect pregnant people when all this ban will do is hurt them.
This policy violates the constitutional right to travel. The right to travel appears in the Articles of Confederation and is recognized by the U.S. Constitution and the Supreme Court. “The right of a citizen to travel upon the public highways and to transport [their] property thereon, by horse-drawn carriage, wagon, or automobile, is not a mere privilege which may be permitted or prohibited at will, but a common right which [they have] under [their] right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Denying the right to safe and legal abortions or not being able to travel out of state to receive one will have major consequences for pregnant people. If people are not able to receive access to safe abortions, they will look for other unsafe options. According to the World Health Organization, “23,000 women die from unsafe abortions each year and tens of thousands more experience significant health complications globally.”
Lubbock County contains one of the major highways that connects Texas to neighboring states where abortion is legal, such as New Mexico, Colorado and Kansas. Banning people from traveling on public roads on the premise of healthcare is dehumanizing. This ban was passed by an all-cisgender-male commission. Pregnant people do not even get a say in what is happening to their bodies.
Your local elections matter. City counsels and commissioners should not have jurisdiction over those seeking healthcare. On Nov. 7 there will be the Constitutional Amendment Election. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Exercise your right to vote to make a difference in our world, to voice your opinions, to advocate for change and to influence your future.
