Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Activist 'answered a call'

Mark Lee Dickson is not acting alone in his quest to make Clovis a "Sanctuary City for the Unborn."

"All I did was answer a call," the Longview, Texas, man said last week. "All I did was go where the Lord was calling me to go."

"I did not go forward thinking I could do this on my own. I went forward saying, 'God help me. God help this city. I can't do this alone. We can't do this alone. We are going to need your help.'"

Look up Dickson on the internet and you will learn of the man his Wikipedia article labels "One of the most influential anti-abortion voices in the United States."

He said he's been communicating with Clovis residents for more than a year.

Since Lubbock outlawed abortion in May 2021, "people from the Clovis area have been calling and e-mailing me about the possibility of seeing abortion outlawed in Clovis," he said.

Dickson told Clovis city commissioners last week that 51 cities in Texas and a handful of cities in Louisiana, Iowa, Ohio and Nebraska are abortion-clinic free due to passage of ordinances he's introduced.

The ordinance Clovis is expected to consider Thursday would require abortion providers in the city to comply with federal law. City Attorney Jared Morris said the federal law is "years old," but could be upheld if the issue goes to court.

A recent Supreme Court ruling gives states the authority to regulate abortion, which is legal in New Mexico. There are no abortion clinics in Clovis or the region.

Dickson said he's interested in helping Clovis become a "sanctuary city" because of a

recent article in "Newsweek" magazine. In that article, he said the chief executive officer of Whole Woman's Health expressed interest in expanding services to cities that border Texas.

Dickson said Whole Woman's Health officials have specifically mentioned Clovis, Hobbs, and Roswell as potential sites for clinics.

Dickson has been talking with city officials about requiring abortion providers in their city to comply with federal law.

"[Clovis City Commissioner] David W. Bryant reached out to me about moving the ordinance forward in the city of Clovis," Dickson said. "Like many commissioners ... Bryant's heart was moved at the repeated requests from the citizens of Clovis for the commission to call a special meeting to address this very serious issue," Dickson said.

Dickson said Bryant "listened to his constituents and what he believed God was leading him to do."

Dickson said working for passage of the anti-abortion clinic ordinance will be different in New Mexico than it has been in Texas, where many elected officials and community leaders support abortion bans.

"The ordinances for cities in New Mexico are not the same as the ordinances in cities throughout Texas," Dickson said. "The laws in New Mexico are different from the laws in the state of Texas and every ordinance which we write is written to comply with all local, state, and federal laws."

And if the fight goes to court?

"We will support New Mexicans in their fight to defend life wherever that fight takes us," Dickson said. "Unborn human beings are worth fighting for in Santa Fe just as much as they are worth fighting for in Clovis and Hobbs."

 
 
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