The Potter-Randall County Medical Society held a press conference Monday to address the ballot text for the “Sanctuary City of the Unborn Ordinance,” which the Amarillo City Council will vote on at its regular city council meeting on Tuesday.
Dr. Steven Urban read a prepared statement on behalf of the medical society outlining concerns about much of the language on the ballot.
In the statement, the society said the wording on the ballot could mislead voters into thinking the issue was only about the legality of abortion in Amarillo, but according to the society, abortions have never been performed in that city.
“The ordinance is actually intended to provide all the help, including emotional support, to a woman considering an abortion,” Urban said. “It puts the city government and the legal system between the patient and the doctor.”
Urban and the board objected to what they considered to be the improper use of the word “human trafficking” in the election ordinance. According to the press release, human trafficking requires fraud, force or coercion.
“Of course, that makes people think of human trafficking for sexual exploitation, right?” he said. “That’s not what we’re talking about here. That’s a misleading and loaded term. When people talk about human trafficking, they think of sex trafficking or being held against their will.”
“We’re talking about a woman who is going to New Mexico for a court case. If someone helps her, they’re accused of aiding and abetting. If someone helps her in any way in that endeavor, they’re accused of human trafficking. So we think that’s too broad.”
Urban went on to speak about what he believes is the charged and misleading use of the word human trafficking.
“We’re talking about anyone – a friend, a pastor or a counselor – who ‘aids and abettes’ abortion simply by providing emotional support,” Urban said. “This is not human trafficking in the sense we would understand it. We believe the less biased term for this activity is ‘transportation.'”
Although he himself opposes abortion, Urban says his group wants to make people aware of the exact implications of the regulation and its wording for the public that could be affected by it.
“This is a travel ban. Some people don’t like to use that word, but that’s what it is,” he said. “Let’s say a woman travels from Oklahoma to New Mexico to have an abortion and travels through Amarillo. In that case, anyone who helps or assists in any way can be sued. We don’t believe it’s human trafficking if a mother or father drives their daughter to New Mexico to have a legal abortion.”
He also expressed concern about the wording of the factual information provided in the regulation, which was very inconsistent with the rest of the regulation, and could lead to medical personnel being penalised or put at risk if they made any reference to abortion.
“We in medicine provide emotional support all the time. If someone disagrees with my recommendations and does something I don’t agree with, I will still provide emotional support to that person,” he said. “That’s a difficult decision and I will support you. If you disagree with my decision, we may not be able to do that with our patients. I would change the word ‘human trafficking’ to ‘transportation,’ OK, or a traffic ban or something else. I just think that would be less biased language. If a person tries to think about what I’m voting on or about human trafficking, oh, that sounds bad and that’s not what this regulation is about. Honesty and confidentiality should be the top priority in that situation.”
Urban says medical experts face potential lawsuits if they even offer alternatives and advice, and that preventing patients from making informed decisions would be detrimental to medical outcomes.
He stressed that the regulation addresses many things that have nothing to do with abortion.
“The ordinance talks about a million things, but the essence of the ordinance is not to make anything illegal, because that’s already been done at the state level,” he said. “I would start with what this is really about.”
Urban stressed that this is about suing people who try to support those in need, regardless of their views on abortion. He believes this regulation will prevent doctors from giving sound advice to their patients, fearing they will be sued for aiding and abetting while giving patients the answers they demand.
The Amarillo City Council will vote on whether to adopt the abortion ordinance ballot text at its meeting on Tuesday.
