Texas City of Brownfield and Terry County Reject Sanctuary for the Unborn Ordinances
After first considering a Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance on December 4, 2025, and after considering the measure again on March 5, 2026, and after being chastised by a legal letter on March 12, 2026, the city council of Brownfield (pop. 9,779) finally came to a decisive and legal vote on the measure.
Click here to sign up for pro-life news alerts from LifeNews.com
On April 2, 2026, the day before Good Friday, the council voted 5-3 to reject the “Ordinance Outlawing Abortion, declaring Brownfield a Sanctuary City for the Unborn.” While Councilman Ray McFarland made a motion to approve the ordinance, and the motion was seconded by Councilman Lee Gamez, the full vote of the council defeated the measure. The three voting in favor of the measure included: Mayor Eric Horton and Councilmembers Ray McFarland and Lee Gamez. The five voting against the measure included: Councilmembers Tom Hesse, Marshall Martell, J.C. Tijerina, Vanessa Valdonado, and Paul Vasquez.
Had the Brownfield City Council voted to approve the measure, the city 40 miles southwest of Lubbock (pop. 266,878) would have been the 95th city in the nation and the 78th city in Texas to pass an ordinance banning abortion.
After the vote, Mayor Eric Horton, immediately stated, “Before we move on, I would like to make a statement of privilege as the mayor. So while this vote did not go the way I had hoped, I want to take a moment to share my heart with the citizens of Brownfield and, of course, our city council. Back in November, I was approached and brought this ordinance forward because I believe every life is valuable and worthy of protection. And my support for declaring Brownfield as a Sanctuary City for the Unborn comes from a deeply held conviction about the dignity of life and the responsibility we have as a community to stand for what we believe in.”
Mayor Horton continued, “At the same time, I fully respect the process and the outcome of the vote, and that is how local government is supposed to work – through discussion, differing viewpoints, and, ultimately, decisions made by the council as a whole. Even when we disagree, we must continue to move forward together.”
Mayor Horton concluded, “Brownfield is a strong community because of its people. And our ability to have these conversations, sometimes difficult ones, is part of what makes our city great. My commitment to you as mayor remains the same. I will continue to serve every citizen of Brownfield with integrity, work to improve our community, and stand firm in my values while respecting the voices of others. So I want to say thank you to everyone who engaged in this process, shared your thoughts, and continues to care deeply about the future of our city.”
After the vote, several residents voiced their frustration with their city council online. Tonia Suggs commented, “Now I know who voted for and against the unborn,” while Marc Slocum shared, “Curious to hear the logic from our Catholics that sit on the board that voted against it.”
Others, like Melanie Denise Beckham, who has served as Queen City’s Assistant City Secretary over 532 miles away in East Texas, chimed in, stating, “We had this same issue and it is a state law that you cannot have abortions. It is not up to the cities of Texas!! It is State LAW! Don’t down the council, they should not even have to vote on it!” Her comment prompted a response from Shannon Thomason, who served as the Mayor of the City of Big Spring (pop. 28,862) when the council passed the Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance outlawing abortion. Thomason wrote, “Melanie Denise Beckham, the Sanctuary City Ordinances predate the state laws, which is exactly why the legislature made it completely legal for cities and counties to pass the ordinances in the Heartbeat Act. The State of Texas didn’t preempt cities and counties from passing the ordinance…they literally encouraged them to!” In August 2023, Senator Bryan Hughes (SD-1) – who represents Queen City – and Senator Charles Perry (SD-28) and Representative Dustin Burrows (HD-83) – who represent Big Spring and Brownfield – penned a letter with 17 other legislators in support of cities and counties in Texas passing such measures.
The letter read, “While it is true that abortion is outlawed in the entire State of Texas, from the point of conception, our work is far from over. Right now, throughout the State of Texas, women are being trafficked across our borders by abortion traffickers funded by abortion trafficking organizations still operating in our state. As a result, these women are being abused and traumatized by abortion across our Texas–New Mexico border and sent back to Texas for our cities and counties to deal with the aftermath taking place in our homes, our schools, our churches, and our hospitals.”
The letter continued, “The Sanctuary for the Unborn ordinances seek to protect these institutions by putting safeguards in place to protect men, women, and their children for years to come. These ordinances, which seek to close as many loopholes as possible, do not penalize women who seek or undergo abortions, but place the penalty on the party who most deserves it – the abortionist and the industry profiting from the unjust procedure, including abortion traffickers.”
Since the City of Brownfield first considered the ordinance on December 4, 2025, a total of 14 political subdivisions have passed ordinances outlawing abortion, including: Hood County (pop. 61,598), Crosby County (pop. 5,133), Hall County (pop. 2,825), Olton (pop. 2,288), Lockney (pop. 1,988), Motley County (pop. 1,063), Sudan (pop. 958), Amherst (pop. 671), Borden County (pop. 631), Matador (pop. 570), Tira (pop. 319), Roaring Springs (pop. 219), Wellman (pop. 205), and Springlake (pop. 145).
The Brownfield City Council’s rejection of the Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance in the City of Brownfield followed Terry County Commissioners’ Court’s rejection of the Sanctuary County for the Unborn ordinance just ten days before on March 23, 2026. While Terry County Judge Tony Serbantez voiced support for the pro-life measure, County Commissioners Myron Bovkoon, Richard Cavazos, Martin LeFevere, and Ernesto Elizardo all voted 4-0 against the adoption of the ordinance outlawing abortion and abortion trafficking.
After the vote, several residents voiced their frustration with their commissioners online. One such resident was Ty Allison, who shared, “I guess our county commissioners are not as God-fearing as they would have us believe they are. What a shame! I hope this will be remembered in future elections.”
Had the measures passed, the ordinances would have prohibited in each jurisdiction: (1) the performing of elective abortions and the aiding or abetting of elective abortions, giving additional civil enforcement coverage against abortionists and those aiding or abetting abortions on unborn children between the period of conception and detectable heartbeat, (2) the performing of elective abortions on residents of the community – even if those abortions took place across state lines, (3) the abortion trafficking of pregnant mothers to abortion facilities across state lines, (4) the mailing abortion-inducing drugs into the community, (5) criminal abortion organizations who are in violation of federal abortion laws from doing business within the community, and (6) the practice of aborted baby trafficking, which is the transporting of the remains of aborted babies from out-of-state abortion providers into the state of Texas to be disposed of as trash.
If passed, the measures would have been enforced the same way as the Texas Heartbeat Act, through the use of a private enforcement mechanism allowing private citizens to file civil lawsuits against anyone in violation of the law. The ordinances would not have allowed any lawsuit to be filed against the mother of the unborn child, but would only have allowed lawsuits to be filed against the abortionist and those who are assisting the abortionist in the killing of unborn children.
Terry County residents seeking to understand more about the ordinances their leaders rejected are encouraged to read the SCFTU Guidesheets for Terry County and are encouraged to sign Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn’s online petition.
LifeNews Note: Mark Lee Dickson lives in Texas and is the founder of the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Initiative.
The post Texas City of Brownfield and Terry County Reject Sanctuary for the Unborn Ordinances appeared first on LifeNews.com.