Amarillo City Council rejects so-called abortion travel ban

AMARILLO, Texas (AP) — After months of debate, the Amarillo City Council rejected a so-called abortion travel ban, championed by statewide anti-abortion activists and certain residents.

The council’s decision made Amarillo the largest conservative Texas city to reject the proposed policy, which would forbid the use of the city’s roads and highways to seek an abortion out of state. Now, a group of residents who petitioned for the ordinance will decide if the issue goes to voters in the Texas Panhandle city this fall.

In rejecting the proposal, Amarillo Mayor Cole Stanley said the city has no authority to put the proposed policy in place.

“What you’re asking me to do is put forward this ordinance and enact it into city law, that would exercise an authority I don’t believe I have,” Stanley said.

The council first debated the issue last fall when a string of other Texas cities and counties passed similar local laws, which abortion rights advocates and legal experts consider dubious and unconstitutional.

Amarillo residents, backed by Texas anti-abortion activist Mark Lee Dickson, forced the council to revisit the issue this year after they gathered enough petition signatures of registered voters.

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