Voters in Abilene and Athens, Texas, passed ordinances Tuesday making abortion illegal in their cities, joining a growing list of cities declared to be sanctuary cities for the unborn.

The Abilene ordinance passed by a vote of 53% to 47%, while the Athens measure passed 58% to 42%. Since June 2019, when Waskom, Texas, became the first city to become a Sanctuary City for the Unborn by ordinance, more than 50 other communities have followed suit, though at least two of those later rescinded that decision, according to sanctuarycitiesfortheunborn.org. Most of the cities are in Texas, with others in Nebraska, Ohio, Iowa and Louisiana.

On Monday, the city commission of Hobbs, New Mexico, voted 7-0 to approve its own ordinance to become a sanctuary city for the unborn. Hobbs, located just two miles west of the Texas border in southeast New Mexico, was under consideration by Whole Woman’s Health as a potential location for an abortion clinic, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, statewide measures in six states did not fare well for the pro-life cause.

• Voters in California passed Proposition 1, also known as the Constitutional Right to Reproductive Freedom amendment, by a vote of roughly 65% to 35%. The amendment guarantees a “fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and their fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives.”

• In Kansas, a constitutional amendment stating that nothing in the state constitution creates a right to abortion, and also affirming that the legislature has the power to pass laws concerning abortion, was voted down.

• A similar measure in Kentucky was also defeated.

• Michigan voters passed an amendment establishing a state constitutional right to “reproductive freedom,” including abortions.

• Vermont voters passed an amendment providing a state constitutional right to “personal reproductive autonomy.”

• In Montana, a proposed state law stating that infants born alive at any stage of development are legal persons, and requiring medical care to be provided to infants born alive after abortion, induced labor or other methods, appears to be on the verge of being rejected.

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