Carbon, Texas, outlawed abortion on February 24, 2021. Carbon, a city of 348, is the 19th town enforcing the Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance. Like other Texas towns, the residents of Carbon petitioned to make their community a safe haven for the preborn and outlaw the violent killing of babies through abortion. The city council voted unanimously to adopt the ordinance.
Carbon, which is located southeast of Abilene and southwest of Fort Worth, had many residents sign petitions requesting the ordinance. Mark Lee Dickson, who spearheads the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn movement, described some of the enthusiastic support the Pro-Life measure received. Included in the petition was space to explain why the person was signing. Wendall Clawson, one of the first people to sign the petition, wrote, “The whole idea of killing your offspring goes totally against the idea of passing down a legacy, a heritage. It goes against our God given desire to protect the innocent and helpless. It is morally wrong.”
Clawson’s wife, Anna, also signed the petition. Her comment read, “No one has the right to take a life.”
Dickson reports that other signers included comments such as: “I believe in the sanctity of life. We have to stand up for the unborn,” and “Life starts before breath or even a heard heartbeat. We need voices for the unborn,” and another wrote, “It’s wrong by God’s law. I don’t want it in my backyard.” These sentiments express the strong Pro-Life values of many Texas towns and explains the success of the grassroots movement.
In addition to the support garnered for the petition through churches and businesses, leaders in local government gave strong support to the measure. Carbon Mayor Corey Hull explained the story of his conception and birth and the influence they had on his passionately Pro-Life stance. Hull was the child of a mother addicted to drugs who conceived a child with a man she met only briefly while separated from her husband. Hull explained that since he was born in 1975, elective abortion was legal when his mother was pregnant, but his mother chose Life, which Hull sees as a miracle.
Instead of Hull’s life ending in the violence of abortion, he was born and adopted. Hull recounted,
There was a sweet and kind couple wanting to have another child. She had one child already, and was told by a doctor that she could not have another child without risk of death to her. The lady and her husband applied for adoption. They were told they would have to wait five to seven years to get a baby. A few short weeks later they received a call from a social worker about a blonde hair, blue-eyed baby boy that had no family, a drug-tainted mind, and had a possible future of great mental problems. They never hesitated. They took me in and gave me a loving home.
Hull added, “I believe God has a purpose for every child,” and described himself as “living proof” that abortion takes a life.
The Texan reports that if the abortion industry tries to sue Carbon, former Solicitor General of Texas Jonathan F. Mitchell has agreed to represent the city. Previously, the abortion industry filed a frivolous lawsuit in an attempt to intimidate Pro-Lifers. When that tactic failed, the abortion industry resorted to personal attacks, prompting Pro-Lifers to countersue.
As the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn movement grows, more Pro-Life Texans are calling for their own towns to protect the preborn. By outlawing abortion, the towns prevent abortion businesses from ever gaining a foothold in Pro-Life communities.
Dickson, who has worked closely with communities to pass enforceable ordinances, said the recent success in Carbon has inspired residents in other towns to work toward passing their own ordinance. He told the Texan, “Since Carbon outlawed abortion last night we have received over fifty petitions come in overnight from residents of the City of Athens, which is about 205 miles east of Carbon.” He added, “We have also had strong interest in the city of Canton, which is about 25 miles north of Athens. We have hundreds of petitions from residents of the City of Canton. We can’t ignore that.”