‘Big Pro-Life Victory’: Planned Parenthood Drops Suit against Lubbock Abortion Ban

Pro-life activists are declaring victory after Planned Parenthood and its allies abandoned a lawsuit against the city of Lubbock, Texas, over a voter-approved ordinance that prohibits abortion.

On Thursday, Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas filed a motion to dismiss an appeal of an earlier court decision that went against the abortion provider, according to EverythingLubbock.com.

In a statement, Planned Parented said it was not ending the legal fight, although it acknowledged that abortions are not being performed in its Lubbock clinic.

“Lubbock Health Center is open and actively serving patients in need of expert, affordable healthcare, including cancer screenings, birth control, STI testing and treatment, and other essential services,” the statement said, omitting the one service – “abortion” – that helped lead to the passage of the ordinance.

The 2021 voter-backed ordinance prohibits abortion within the city limits and declares Lubbock a “Sanctuary City for the Unborn.” It passed with 62 percent of the vote and took effect on June 1.

Last year, U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix dismissed Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit against the city.

Ed Whelan, a distinguished senior fellow for the Ethics and Public Policy Center, called Planned Parenthood’s decision a “big pro-life victory in Texas.”

Big pro-life victory in Texas: Planned Parenthood abandons lawsuit against Lubbock ban on abortion. https://t.co/8s0EJvoM0y

— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelanEPPC) January 24, 2022

Texas Right to Life, in a statement, said it was “thankful to see this case resolved and Lubbock’s Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance continuing to protect the city’s born and preborn residents from lethal damage of abortion.”

Right to Life of East Texas said it’s the “first time that an abortion ban has survived court challenge in the United States since Roe v. Wade.”

“The ordinance is structured in a manner similar to the Texas Heartbeat Act, which outlaws abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detectable but prohibits state officials from enforcing the law, instead authorizing private citizens to sue those who perform or aid or abet illegal abortions,” Right to Life of East Texas said.

The Texas Heartbeat Act has, thus far, survived court challenges.

Related:

Planned Parenthood Halts Abortions in Lubbock as Voter-Backed Ban Takes Effect

Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Andrew Burton/Staff

Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

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