A judge dismissed a lawsuit from Planned Parenthood against the City of Lubbock, Texas, where residents voted to approve a measure that outlaws abortion in the city.
In explaining why the suit was dismissed, U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix said Planned Parenthood lacked jurisdiction.
Hendrix noted that Planned Parenthood alleged that the ordinance was invalid because it violated federal constitutional rights, but he said they admitted that “even if the court gave them everything they wanted, the court’s ruling would not bar private citizens from bringing the suit in state court, bind the state judiciary to its ruling, or force the ordinance’s repeal.”
Right to Life director Mark Lee Dickson hailed the court’s decision.
The ordinance, called “Sanctuary City for the Unborn,” was approved on May 1, and it went into effect on Tuesday, June 1, stipulating that abortion is now illegal within Lubbock’s city limits.
“Any person, corporation, or entity that commits an unlawful act … other than the mother of the unborn child that has been aborted, shall be liable in tort to the unborn child’s mother, father, grandparents, siblings, and half-siblings,” text of the ordinance states. “The person or entity that committed the unlawful act shall be liable to each surviving relative of the aborted unborn child for: (a) Compensatory damages, including damages for emotional distress; (b) Punitive damages; and (c) Costs and attorneys’ fees.”
“In our view, Planned Parenthood has not shown that Lubbock’s ordinance is inconsistent with state law. To the extent that the Court finds state law to be ambiguous regarding the merits of Planned Parenthood’s claims, the Court should abstain from exercising jurisdiction,” Stone wrote.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, meanwhile, noted in a letter that “under Texas law, when a later-enacted statute clarifies the meaning of earlier statutes, it is ‘highly persuasive,’ even if it does not technically control.”
