The Potter-Randall County Medical Society held a news conference Monday addressing the ballot language for the “Sanctuary City of the Unborn Ordinance” that the Amarillo City Council will vote on at Tuesday’s regular city council meeting.
Dr. Steven Urban, on behalf of the medical society, read a prepared statement that outlined the concerns about much of the wording in the ballot language.
In the statement, the society expressed that the ballot language might lead voters to believe that this is only about the legality of abortion in Amarillo, which, according to the society, has never been performed in the city.
"The ordinance is really about giving any aid, even emotional support, to a woman who is considering abortion," Urban said. "It interposes the city government and the legal system between a patient and her doctor."
Urban and the board objected to what he feels is the improper use of the word "trafficking" in the ballot ordinance. According to the release, trafficking requires fraud, force, or coercion.
"Well, this obviously makes people think of human sex trafficking, right?” he said. “That's not what we're talking about here. This is a deceptive and loaded term. When people are talking about trafficking, it makes people think of sex trafficking or being held against their will.
“We are talking about a woman going to New Mexico for a legal procedure. If anybody helps, they claim they are aiding and abetting, if anybody helps her in any way in this enterprise, that they are trafficking. So, we think it is too broad.”
Urban continued to talk about what he felt was a loaded and deceptive use of the word trafficking.
"We are talking about anyone - a friend, a minister or a counselor who 'aids and abets' the abortion, just by providing emotional support," Urban said. "This is not trafficking in any sense of the word we would recognize. We feel that the less prejudicial term for this activity is 'transporting.'"
While pro-life himself, Urban says that his group wants people to understand the precise implication of the ordinance and its wording for the public it may affect.
“This is a travel ban. Some people don't like to use that word, but that's what it is,” he said. "Suppose a woman is traveling to New Mexico from Oklahoma to get an abortion and travels through Amarillo. In that case, anybody who assists or helps in any way is suspectable to being sued. We do not think it's trafficking for a mother or father to drive their daughter to New Mexico to get a legal abortion.”
He also said that he had concerns with the language of factual information being provided in the ordinance being very inconsistent with the rest of the language of the ordinance, which could penalize medical personnel or put them in jeopardy if they refer to abortion in any way.
“We in medicine provide emotional support all the time. If I have somebody that disagrees with my recommendations and does something I disagree with, I'm still going to give that person emotional support,” he said. “This is a difficult decision, and I am going to support you. If you disagree with my decision, we may not be able to do that with our patients. I would change the word 'trafficking' to 'transporting,' OK, or a traffic ban or some other. I just think that would be less prejudicial language to use. When a person is trying to think what I am voting about or trafficking, oh, that sounds bad and is not what this ordinance is about. Honesty and confidentiality should be supreme in that circumstance.”
Urban says that with possible lawsuits hanging over medical experts’ heads for even providing alternatives and advice that it would be detrimental to medical outcomes for patients to make informed decisions.
He stressed that the ordinance addresses many things that have nothing to do with abortion.
“They talk about a million things in the ordinance, but the crux of the ordinance is not about making anything illegal because that has already been done at the state level,” he said. “I would start with what this is really about.”
Urban emphasized that this is about suing people who are trying to support those in need, regardless of their views on abortion. With this ordinance, he feels this will hinder doctors' ability to give informed advice to their patients due to fears of being sued for aiding and abetting while giving patients the answers they ask for.
The Amarillo City Council will vote at Tuesday's meeting whether to approve the ballot language for the abortion ordinance.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: 'This is a travel ban': Potter-Randall medical society raises concerns on ballot wording
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