Texas: Federal judge throws out Planned Parenthood lawsuit effort to block “sanctuary city for the unborn” ordinance

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Lubbock in Texas is officially a “sanctuary city for the unborn:” a federal judge has dismissed Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit against Lubbock’s voter-approved ban on abortion, the Christian Post reports. The Planned Parenthood suit was thrown out Tuesday by Judge James Wesley Hendrix of the Northern District of Texas, on the grounds the court “lacks jurisdiction.”

A city of over 250,000 residents, Lubbock is now the largest US sanctuary city for the unborn: more than 62% of the city’s voters approved the ban on abortion, except when the woman’s life is in danger, the Christian Post reports.

Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas had sued Lubbock, asking the federal court to rule the sanctuary ordinance as unconstitutional, the Christian Post reports. In a statement, Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas CEO Ken Lambrecht said: “This ban on abortions provides no exemptions, even in cases of rape or incest. The ban on abortion violates patients’ constitutional right to an abortion and we’re in court to block this ban for Lubbock patients.”

However, in his ruling Tuesday, Judge Hendrix said: “Because the ability to remedy a plaintiff’s injury through a favorable decision is a prerequisite to a plaintiff’s standing to sue — an ability absent here — the Court dismisses the case for lack of jurisdiction.”

Responding to Hendrix’s “thorough and well-reasoned opinion,” Lubbock officials promised to “vigorously defend the ordinance in any litigation that may be filed.”

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