The movement of Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn started in 2019 in Waskom, Texas, when the city council decided they wanted to protect preborn babies. It was this vote by five that lit the spark that swept across the country like a wild brushfire.1 By 2025, more than 70 cities had done the same.2 From the pine country of East Texas to the quiet streets of Nebraska, the corn towns of Iowa, and the desert edge of New Mexico, each place took a stand to protect the most vulnerable among us: preborn babies.3

What is a Sanctuary City for the Unborn?

A Sanctuary City, in its original context, is a city that welcomes refugees and immigrants. The pro-life movement has adopted this terminology for itself, however, in incorporated cities and towns that have banned abortion, often referring to themselves as Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn.

Origins of the Sanctuary Cities for the Preborn Movement

The movement began in 2019 when Waskom, TX, “became the first city in the nation to pass an enforceable ordinance outlawing abortion within their city limits,” according to Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn.4 Throughout the fall of that same year, other towns followed suit. Though the movement began over six years ago, it’s showing no signs of slowing down. This year alone, 13 towns in Texas have passed ordinances outlawing abortion.5 While the vast majority of cities have stuck to their ordinance, two have recanted. Omaha, Texas, the second city in the US to outlaw abortion, “attempted to ‘walk back’ the city council from the ordinance and convinced them to adopt a non-binding resolution instead,” according to Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn.6

Mason, Ohio, is the other city that recanted their ordinance. The city council officially ruled to outlaw abortion on October 25th, 2021, but later that year, on December 13, x“the newly elected Mayor and City Council . . . repealed their ordinance outlawing abortion. The vote was 6-1,” as stated by the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn.7

How Many Sanctuary Cities Exist Today?

Currently, there are 83 US cities and 12 counties that have passed ordinances banning abortion.8 Of these cities, 66 are in Texas and 17 are in other states; namely, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Ohio.

Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, and Ohio each only have one town outlawing abortion. New Mexico has four while Nebraska boasts eight. Of the counties that have outlawed abortion, ten of the twelve are in Texas and the remaining two are in New Mexico.9

Most recently, on September 25, 2025, the city of Avery, Texas, passed an ordinance banning abortion.10

The Significance of Towns Like Talco

While there are several larger cities that have passed ordinances banning abortion, the vast majority are tiny towns with fewer than a thousand residents. These small communities have taken a stand against abortion, showcasing a grassroots movement that amplifies the voices of local leaders and residents rather than politicians or corporate leaders.

Talco, Texas, is one such town that has a real-life impact on its community. Talco is a place so small that the main thoroughfare is a blip. Blink too slowly, and you may miss the town altogether.

But amidst the church, the park, the cemetery, and the small businesses, something remarkable happened: Talco became the 79th Sanctuary City for the Unborn in the nation. The ordinance in Talco prohibits the following:11

      1. Abortions within the city limits

      1. Elective abortions on Talco residents

      1. Abortion trafficking throughout the city

      1. The mailing of abortion pills into the city

      1. Criminal organizations from doing business

      1. Transportation and disposal in or throughout the city of
        the remains of preborn babies who have been aborted

    Since I’ve been on the City Council, I’ve had a goal to make decisions that I believe will improve the quality of life as best as I can for the people who live here in our community,” said City Commissioner Michael Mars prior to the June 14 vote. “Now we have this ordinance that’s been brought before us . . . and I’ve been placed in a position where I have to make a choice. I have to make a decision about it in front of you all, and most importantly, in front of my Creator, who gave me life.”12

    America’s People vs. America’s Corporations

    Ordinary, everyday folks rising up to defend the preborn is what undergirds this movement. No marketing, no agendas, no national coverage. Rather, Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn is the result of real people desiring real change and being willing to fight for it.

    This is in stark contrast to the abortion tourism industry that has been on the rise since the fall of Roe and is funded by companies you may be familiar with: Disney, Amazon, Starbucks, Microsoft . . . the list goes on. They call it “reproductive travel.”13 For decades, women bore the cost of abortions alone. They bought the plane ticket, booked the room, and carried the grief home alone. Now, the companies do it for them, covering the bill if the destination promises an abortion and the home state does not. It’s a strange sort of benefit: a paid trip to end a life, all in the name of workforce retention.

    An abortion vacation costs less than maternity leave and is cheaper than training a new hire. In the boardrooms of these companies, whose stock is worth more than the GDP of most countries, it’s all just a matter of numbers.

    Abortion vacations are the new face of the abortion industry. They are sanitized by HR policy and justified by profit margins. And while small towns like Talco are drawing moral lines around their borders, the corporate world is erasing its own future employees.

    Opposition, Controversy, and Expansion

    Opponents say ordinances like Talco’s turn private citizens into spies.14 Yet supporters say they return moral authority to the people who still believe their town lines mean something. In Lubbock, the first major city to adopt the measure, voters passed it after the council refused. Planned Parenthood sued, lost, and left.15

    In these towns, the word “sanctuary” truly means shelter, a place of refuge, and a promise that life begins here. The future of the movement is spreading—and it’s not slowing down anytime soon. Whole counties have begun to join the cities while travel bans and mail restrictions have expanded.16

    The people in these towns and many others aren’t waiting for Congress to put laws into place to protect life—they are doing that within their own cities. Small town leaders are showing the rest of the nation the power of personal convictions, grassroots movements, and community action.

    PreBorn! is fighting on the frontlines of cities where abortion is paid for by soulless corporations who exist solely to return value to their shareholders. Through the work of PreBorn! Network Clinics, your giving provides life-saving support, compassionate care, and hope in Jesus Christ.

    Footnotes:

    1 Goins-Phillips, Tré. “City in Texas Becomes ‘Sanctuary City’ for the Unborn.” Faithwire,
    12 June 2019.
    2 Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn, www.sanctuarycitiesfortheunborn.com
    3 Berry, Susan. “68 Cities Are Now ‘Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn’ That Protect Babies
    From Abortion.” LifeNews, 13 Mar. 2024
    4 Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn, www.sanctuarycitiesfortheunborn.com
    5 Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn, www.sanctuarycitiesfortheunborn.com
    6 Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn, www.sanctuarycitiesfortheunborn.com
    7 Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn, www.sanctuarycitiesfortheunborn.com
    8 Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn, https://sanctuarycitiesfortheunborn.org/incorporated-cities
    9 Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn, https://sanctuarycitiesfortheunborn.org/counties
    10 Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn, https://sanctuarycitiesfortheunborn.org/incorporated-cities
    11 Dickson, Mark Lee. “Talco, Texas Becomes 79th City Nationwide to Ban Abortions.”
    LifeNews.com, 12 Aug. 2025.
    12 Live Action, https://www.liveaction.org/news/talco-texas-79th-sanctuary-city-unborn-us
    13 Wilhelm, Megan. “Abortion Travel Is Taking Corporate America by Storm.” Life and Christ, vol. 5,
    no. 2, Winter 2024, p. 13. PreBorn!
    14 American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. “Sanctuary for the Unborn Ordinances.”
    ACLU of Illinois, https://www.aclu-il.org/en/campaigns/sanctuary-unborn-ordinances
    15 Whelan, Ed. “Planned Parenthood Drops Lawsuit Challenging Lubbock’s Abortion Ban.”
    National Review, 24 Jan. 2022.
    16 Novielli, Carole. “Why Pro-Lifers Are ‘Thrilled’ by NM Supreme Court’s Ruling Against
    ‘Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn’.” Live Action, 10 Jan. 2025.