ODESSA, Texas - You might think that 1973’s landmark Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision is the law of the land, permitting women to choose to have an abortion with minimal government restriction.

However, as of January 2021, 17 Texas cities have found a way around it, essentially outlawing abortion via local ordinance.

Now, an 18^th Texas city could join them.

Odessa, located in West Texas, is mulling becoming what is referred to as a “sanctuary city for the unborn.”

In 2018, the city had a population of 120,586. It has a handful of facilities that perform abortions.

The item this week was placed on the Odessa City Council work session agenda by Mayor Javier Joven, who was just elected.

The small town of Waskom, Texas, became the first city to adopt the title. It has a population of 1,900 and no abortion facilities.

Officially, however, abortion remains legal in the state of Texas.

The proposed ordinance states, in part:

“The City Council of Odessa finds it necessary to supplement these existing state-law prohibitions on abortion-murder with its own prohibitions on abortion, and to empower city officials and private citizens to enforce these prohibitions to the maximum extent permitted by state law and the Constitution.”

It’s not clear, if the ordinance were to be passed, exactly how it would be enforced. However, Mark Lee Dickson, an activist behind the movement, recently told CNN, “"The idea is this: in a city that has outlawed abortion, in those cities if an abortion happens, then later on when Roe v. Wade is overturned, those penalties can come crashing down on their heads."

No decision has been made in Odessa. According to local media reports, the proposal will next be discussed on January 12.