Naples Florida City Council Votes Against Considering Outlawing Abortion At This Time
The City of Naples, Florida has an ordinance on their books which prohibits the killing of baby sea turtles in Naples, Florida. Knowing about how much the City of Naples values the lives of baby sea turtles, a pastor from Texas is wanting to bring another type of sanctuary to Naples, Florida - a sanctuary for unborn children. Mark Lee Dickson is a director with Right To Life of East Texas and the founder of a movement called Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn. When Dickson first came to Naples in July of 2020 a total of 14 cities in Texas had outlawed abortion within their city limits, now the movement has seen a total of 24 sanctuary cities for unborn children. On March 15th, eight months after Dickson’s first visit to Naples, the Naples City Council were given their first opportunity to publicly discuss the ordinance.
WINK News reported that the Naples, Florida City Council “listened to a proposal by pro-life group Action for Life during a workshop for the city to become a ‘sanctuary for the unborn.’” Bill Oppenheimer, the President of Action For Life, shared, “My purpose in speaking today is to present to the City Council of Naples an ordinance which would declare Naples a Sanctuary City for the Unborn, effectively outlawing abortion within the City of Naples, Florida.”
Councilman Ted Blankenship asked the Naples City Council if there was a consensus to grant Mr. Oppenheimer’s request and place the item on a future agenda in the near future. Vice Mayor Terry Hutchison thanked Councilman Blankenship for bringing the item up. “This is subsequent now to several appearances now before city council by members of the community . . . and recognizing numerous instances of written correspondence including today as well as individual meetings with members of the public, I agree that we need to address the proposition that is being brought before us.” Vice Mayor Hutchison continued, “I think it is appropriate that the Mayor poll for a consensus among city council in directing the City Manager to work with the City Mayor to make it a part of the regular city meeting. So I support it simply because it has been brought to our attention many times now and is an item of interest.”
After witnessing two city council members prod the discussion forward, Councilman Raymond Christman shared his view. “What we are talking about here is one of the most divisive contentious issues in America.” said Christman. “We are hearing from a party that represents one side of that issue. It’s an issue that really in my opinion isn’t something that really is a matter to be decided or discussed at a local government level.” Christman continued, “Based on some limited research that I did when Mr. Oppenheimer approached us a couple of months ago, this sanctuary city idea is something that barely exists at all in America. It is in one city in Texas, so it’s not even like it’s a movement in place throughout Florida let alone the country.”
The comment made by Christman raised many eyebrows. Christman claimed to have conducted limited research which resulted in his conclusion that the “sanctuary city idea” was “something that barely exists at all in America” and is only “in one city in Texas,” therefore it is “not even like it’s a movement.” According to the Sanctuary Cities For The Unborn website there are a total of twenty-three cities in Texas and one in Nebraska which have passed ordinances outlawing abortion within their city limits. The largest city which has outlawed abortion, to date, is the city of Big Spring which has a population of 28,862. Other cities where the discussion is taking place right now include the City of Odessa whose population is 123,334 and the City of Lubbock whose population is 278,831. On May 1st, 2021 the citizens of Lubbock will be casting their vote YES or NO to the outlawing abortion within the city limits of Lubbock, Texas.
This “movement” to outlaw abortion on the local level has gained much traction throughout the state of Texas. In fact, this “movement” has gained so much traction that the Republican Party of Texas actually added a plank to their 2020 Platform which reads, "We support the right of Texas municipalities to protect mothers and preborn children in their communities by passing enforceable city ordinances that ban abortions and abortion industry businesses within their city limits." According to the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn website “92.3% of Republican Party of Texas delegates voted in favor of this plank being added” to their official party platform.
This “movement” has even had an impact on one of the leading pieces of pro-life legislation in Texas this legislative session. Senator Bryan Hughes’ Texas Heartbeat Act (SB 8) states that it does not “restrict a political subdivision from regulating or prohibiting abortion in a manner that is at least as stringent as the laws of this state” giving even more support to cities throughout the lone star state which want to make sure abortions never take place within their city limits.
The “sanctuary city idea” which Christman claimed “barely exists at all in America” is only “in one city in Texas,” and is “not even like it’s a movement” has been covered as national news in the Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, Huff Post, The New York Times, The Washington Times, Breitbart, and various other news outlets throughout the United States and all across the globe. With these things in mind, which could be found with a basic google search, one has to wonder just how ‘limited’ Councilman Christman’s research really was on this issue.
Councilman Paul Perry stood in complete agreement with Councilman Christman as he spoke up stating, “I have had some discussions with other lawyers about this and If we were to pass something like this all we are doing is buying litigation that for any purpose I can’t imagine because it’s not really a local issue.” Councilman Perry continued, “It is a state or federal issue, so I would be opposed to even bringing this up for discussion because it is just totally inappropriate as a local issue at the local level.”
While Councilman Perry claims that this is not appropriate at the local level, it appears that abortion access at the local level is something that the Biden Administration wants to see in Naples, Florida. On the 48th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris released a statement committing to make sure everyone had access to abortion in every zip code. Naples, Florida was not exempt from that statement. Furthermore, there are many who really do believe that one’s views on abortion really does matter at the local level.
In fact, Ruth’s List Florida is one organization that has made it their mission to elect pro-choice Democrat women into office. Ruth’s List describes their mission as “dedicated to building a better Florida by recruiting and assisting pro-choice Democratic women to successfully run for public office in Tallahassee, in county commissions, in city councils, and for other key positions around the state.” One can say all day long that abortion is a state and federal issue, but when an abortion access becomes available in a city then is it still a state or federal issue then? Or is it a city issue?
The next member of the Naples City Council to speak up was Councilman Mike McCabe. Councilman McCabe stated, “I concur with Mr. Perry and Mr. Christman. It does nothing but open up the city litigation should we pass it, or should we not hear it in an appropriate way, so I don’t think it’s a local issue we would be dealing with.”
So far two council members were for placing the item on the agenda for discussion and three council members were against placing the item on the agenda for discussion. All eyes were on Councilman Gary Price. If Councilman Price sided with those who were for the discussion then the Mayor would be the deciding vote. If Councilman Price sided with those who were against having the discussion then there would be no discussion on the matter.
Councilman Gary Price spoke up, “My only comment is that for the last year we have tried our best as leaders to keep this community together, to heal. We are not even through this crisis.” Councilman Gary Price spoke of the coronavirus pandemic which has claimed many lives throughout the State of Florida. “While I respect anyone’s ability to petition the government, for us to think about having conversations. We aren’t done healing yet and I don’t know how long that’s going to take.”
CRIT-LARGE reached out to Mark Lee Dickson, Director of Right To Life of East Texas and founder of the Sanctuary Cities For the Unborn Initiative to get his thoughts on Gary Price’s reasoning. Dickson did not hold back in his criticism. “The coronavirus is not the only life-taker worth addressing in this city. The leading cause of death across the United States is the murder of unborn children by abortion and if the Biden Administration has their way the City of Naples will see abortion access within their city limits.” Dickson continued, “It concerns me that Councilman Price would delay a vote which asks the question, ‘Should we pass an ordinance preventing the murder of unborn children by abortion in Naples or should we not?’ Many city council members see this as a no-brainer - apparently for Councilman Price that question is a lot more difficult one for him to answer.”
Councilman Price stated that while he thought it was “potentially an important conversation for the community to have” it was not a priority to him stating “I just think if you’re asking me today. I don’t support having the discussion today.”
In response to Councilman Price, Mayor Heitmann stated, “Not today, but in the near future.” Councilman Price then made clear, however, just where he stood on the issue. “I didn’t say near future. I think if we are asking to give staff direction to bring it back, I don’t support going to staff to ask them to bring it back.”
Mayor Teresa Heitmann disagreed with Councilman Price. “Ok, I do. It is not a thing where we are discussing if it is right or wrong. Whether we do or we don’t. My understanding is that it is the city just saying that they will not allow a facility to perform those procedures.” Mayor Heitmann continued, “To me if that is in place already in our code and we can solidify it, then I would support it, but it looks like we have four who are for not proceeding. Ok, well I’m not sure that this particular document really expressed everything as Mr. Christman would say. To me this is a policy for good health within the community that I would have supported.”
Councilman Ted Blankenship thanked everyone for their input. “I appreciate everyone’s views. I feel strongly about this issue. I would not like to see one of these clinics open up in our city limits. It is not clear to me if our ordinances allow it or not. I don’t think we have had one at least not in recent history. I hope we wouldn’t in the near future. That was what I believe was the driving aim for the ordinance.”
Action For Life President Bill Oppenheimer shared, “It was a disappointment but only a temporary setback. We will not rest until the gates of the City of Naples are closed to those who would profit from the destruction of the most defenseless among us - our unborn children. I cannot put the protection of sea turtles above the protection of human life.”
Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn has had thousands from the Naples, Florida area sign the online petition and one thing is certain - this issue is unlikely to be going away anytime soon.
Victoria Blaze is a senior journalism major at a university in Florida and enjoys writing, cooking, scuba-diving, and martial arts. When she is not working on her next writing project or taking part in one of her many hobbies, she enjoys attending a local church, playing fetch with her pit-bull Scruffy, and taking care of injured birds and squirrels.
