Council members in Chandler, Texas voted down an ordinance on Tuesday night to outlaw “abortion trafficking,” which would have made it illegal for a person to knowingly transport someone for the purpose of receiving an abortion. In the words of the ordinance, it would be illegal to “knowingly transport any individual for the purpose of providing or obtaining an elective abortion, regardless of where the elective abortion will occur.”

The ordinance also would have allowed private citizens to sue any individual or organization that is suspected to be in violation of the law. The restriction would have applied to any transportation through Chandler, no matter where the abortion takes place. The ordinance also contained a provision to prosecute and investigate abortion providers under the The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). 

The ordinance, if passed, would have made Chandler a “Sanctuary City for the Unborn,” which is an initiative to encourage city councils to pass local ordinances that would outlaw abortion within city limits, spearheaded by Mark Lee Dickson, the director of the anti-abortion group Right to Life of East Texas.

As it stands now, sixteen cities across East Texas have become Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn, according to reporting from CBS19.  

Dickson told The Washington Post earlier this month that the term “trafficking” applies to anyone seeking out an abortion because “the unborn child is always taken against their will.” After last night’s vote by the Chandler City Council, reported KETK, Dickson said that he does not believe that last night’s vote “truly represented the pro-life community.”