The city of Lebanon is Ohio’s first “sanctuary city” for the unborn, after the Lebanon City Council voted to unanimously to ban abortions.
“The ordinance makes getting or assisting in an abortion a misdemeanor offense punishable by up to $2,500 in fines and up to a year in jail, according to City Attorney Mark Yurick,” Fox19 reported. “It also bans providing money or assistance to anyone seeking an abortion, even if the abortion takes place outside of the city limits.”
The ordinance will take effect immediately.
It cited Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court abortion case, calling it a “lawless and unconstitutional act of judicial usurpation.”
One member of the City Council resigned in protest over the new ordinance.
Krista Wyatt blasted Republican members of the City Council amid her exit.
“Multiple Republicans have reached out to me to indicate while they do not support abortion, they do not feel it should be made into local legislation that conflicts with State and Federal laws,” Wyatt said. “They do not support the actions of a group who does not represent the entire party.”
The night of the vote, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio also weighed in on the ban in a joint statement with Planned Parenthood, America’s largest group of abortionists.
“Tonight the seven-member Lebanon City Council will hold a vote on a dangerous city ordinance that would ban abortion and make it illegal to aid someone in obtaining the procedure by declaring the city a ‘sanctuary for the unborn,'” that statement said. “The ACLU of Ohio and Planned Parenthood call the proposed measure blatantly unconstitutional and the ACLU is prepared to mount a legal challenge.”
Freda Levenson, the legal director for the ACLU Ohio said the group “will do everything in our collective power to ensure this effort is dead on arrival.”
There are 28 other locales in the United States that have also banned abortions, calling themselves “sanctuary cities” for the unborn.
The political left originally used that term to describe cities wherein illegal aliens could live without fear of being arrested by federal immigration enforcement officers.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
