Abortion, Waco City Council Meeting, I Was There
Column by: Donna Garner
Last night’s Waco City Council Meeting was quite an event. Thankfully the Mayor, Dillon Meek, did not cave to the pro-aborts’ demands who put unbelievable pressure on him to place the GRACE Act on the agenda.
The pro-aborts were attempting to turn Waco into a GRACE Act city where the DA and the Waco Police Department would circumvent the new anti-abortion laws by avoiding investigating and prosecuting people who are abortion providers. 
Mayor Meek did a courageous job last night having already stated, “We are not voting on the Grace Act.
I do not support Waco city council taking on this issue, as I believe it is outside of our purview. Further, I do not expect this to be taken up by the council going forward.”
This is what happened at last night’s meeting. I was there:
Even though the GRACE Act was not on the agenda last night, the public turned out in huge numbers to express their concerns and personal stories in the public hearing part of the City Council meeting.
We were told to wait in the overflow room until the public hearing part of the Waco City Council meeting started which was to be at the end of the official agenda.
How exciting to see so many concerned citizens fill the overflow room to capacity.
An official announced that this was one of the largest crowds they had ever seen at a Waco City Council meeting (the Axtel landfill issue having had a similar number).
As the room filled up and all of us were a bit uncertain of the procedures to be followed in the public hearing part of the meeting, a leading pastor from the Waco community came to the front of the room.
Because all of us were watching a big video screen at the front of the room on which we could view live the Waco City Council’s proceedings and about an hour had already passed, this pastor was concerned people might give up and leave.
He had checked with an official to get the details about the public hearing and began to explain them in a nice, loud voice so that everyone in the room could hear.
He wisely worded his announcement to fit both sides represented in the room.
Suddenly several big, brawny, pro-abort men pushed aggressively to the front of the room, got right in the pastor’s face, started yelling cuss words at him (the “f” word, etc.), and threatened him with their fists in the air.
Many of us began to pray for God’s protection and His peace to settle over the room as the tensions grew. I was sitting only a few feet away from the men who were threatening the pastor.
With amazing quickness, and Waco police officers and the Waco Convention Hall security team capably removed the defiant, out-of-control, pro-abort men from the room and announced that a similar thing would happen to any and all who disrupted this public meeting in such a way.
After that incident, a security officer announced that the huge crowd (which had already filled the room to capacity anyway) needed to be separated into two rooms – the pro-life supporters were to stay in one room and the pro-aborts were to go to a room down the hall. Both rooms had the large viewing screens where everyone could watch the testimonies being presented.
This is when someone counted the numbers in both rooms: Around 127 pro-lifers were in our room, and only about 50 pro-aborts were in their room.
I admit that I am strongly pro-life. However, I have to say that after listening to numerous hours of the public testimonies and viewing the pro-lifers’ poignant, well-reasoned, sincere, straight-from-the-heart concerns, they made much more sense than the shallow presentations offered by the GRACE Act, pro-aborts.
If you do not believe me, please take the time to watch and listen to the testifiers.
The testimony part of the City Council meeting starts around marker 4:19:51 (in the box that pops up right above the moving bar line).
http://wacocitytx.iqm2.com/Citizens/SplitView.aspx?Mode=Video&MeetingID=4109&Format=Agenda
THE LAWS OF TEXAS AND OUR NATION
The U. S. Supreme Court and the Texas Legislature have already established what the law is. The Supremes wiped out Roe v. Wade by saying that states now have the right to decide for themselves whether abortions are to be legal.
The Texas Legislature in the last session already made the decision that there are to be no more abortions in Texas. Waco nor any other city in Texas should try to circumvent the laws of our state and nation.
Below is the link to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s clearly worded 7.27.22 – “Updated Advisory on Texas Law Upon Reversal of Roe v. Wade” —
Here are the main points found in the abortion laws passed by the Texas Legislature:
POINT #1: Under the existing laws, friends, family members, and anyone else who aids in a prohibited abortion could potentially be vulnerable to civil and administrative penalties, even if a prosecutor won’t bring criminal charges.
POINT #2: Texas State Rep. Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park) has said he plans to propose legislation that would empower district attorneys to prosecute abortion-related crimes all across the state, even if LOCAL DA’s and the POLICE refuse to do so…
This means that even if the Waco City Council decided Waco should become a GRACE ACT city, the DA’s from other places in Texas could prosecute abortion-related crimes in Waco.
POINT #3: Texas’ trigger ban makes it a felony to perform an abortion except to save the life of the mother. But the law also requires the Texas attorney general to file a civil lawsuit against anyone who performs a prohibited abortion for “not less than $100,000 for each violation,” and revoke the license of any health care provider involved in the procedure.
POINT #4: The Texas Legislature passed SB 8 which empowers private citizens to bring civil lawsuits against anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy.
Donna Garner
Donna Garner is a Waco-based activist and writer.
Contact her at: Wgarner1@hot.rr.com
