MIDLAND, Texas — In a 4-1 vote Monday morning, Midland County Commissioners approved an action item to proclaim Midland County a safe place for the unborn.
"I think it was important to acknowledge what the state of Texas has already said, and that is, we’re not in favor of abortion," said Judge Terry Johnson. "And I think our founding fathers said it best when they said that life, liberty and pursuit of happiness was everybody’s inalienable rights, so we just want to again reaffirm what’s already in a constitution and what our governor and the great state of Texas has deemed appropriate."
Johnson voted in favor of this action item, and said he was happy with the outcome.
"I’m very proud of what we’ve done and what we’ve accomplished," said Johnson. "We just reiterated what our founding fathers founded this country on, and what our state government has dictated, so I’m very proud."
However, one commissioner did vote against becoming a sanctuary for the unborn. Precinct 1 Commissioner Scott Ramsey said his reasoning is because he believes this topic isn't something commissioners should focus on.
"To me it did not have a place on the Midland County agenda," said Ramsey. "This isn’t what we deal with. We’re constitutionally mandated by the state government to do certain things, such as maintain a jail, sheriff's office, the court system and build roads. This agenda item didn’t fit in any of that."
He believes the topic of abortion should be left to federal and state elected officials.
"Because of the fact that we do not have any powers whatsoever to affect this," said Ramsey. "My statement in court today said, 'why don’t we leave this up to the elected officials at the state and federal government who actually do have the powers to do something to fix this issue, we have nothing. We can’t do anything.' So, I think it didn’t have a place in our court."
While Johnson encourages discussion on both sides of the issue, he believes the decision made Monday is the right one.
"I know there’s people for and against, and on both sides of this issue," said Johnson. "And we can make all kinds of arguments. To those that are for it, I applaud that today was a great day, and to those against it, I hope we can keep having a dialogue on this issue."