Opinion: Abortion issue brings Big Brother with its big stick

A business license application -- aimed at abortion clinic operators -- and compliance with a “years-old” federal law are the key points of a proposed ordinance Clovis city commissioners will be asked to adopt on Nov. 3.

City Attorney Jared Morris said last week that “years-old” law is the Comstock Act. It was passed in 1873.

Just so we’re all clear, activists led by Mark Lee Dickson from Longview, Texas, want Clovis to become a “sanctuary city for the unborn.” City officials openly acknowledge they expect to be sued if they approve the ordinance in violation of state law. And it’s all tied to a 149-year-old “obscenity” law that did not define obscenity.

That’s right. The Comstock Act relied on its author, Anthony Comstock, to decide what was obscene, and even gave him the authority to arrest violators.

Much but not all of the Comstock Act has been repealed by Congress. We don’t hear much about it anymore because Comstock isn’t around to enforce it anymore. He died in 1915.

Nonetheless, some of our city leaders think it’s a good idea to dive right into this political lake of fire, no matter what it costs taxpayers. They, like Comstock, seem determined to legislate morality.

Ironic, isn’t it? People who mostly got elected claiming they champion limited government are poised to use Big Brother’s big stick on private businesses they don’t like.

At least that’s what it feels like after commissioners approved introduction of the ordinance at a “special” meeting that feels like it was held at the convenience of the out-of-state activists.

Mayor Mike Morris said the 150 to 175 people who attended the Oct. 13 meeting was the most he’s ever seen at a city commission meeting. Almost all of them supported the proposed ordinance.

No one is exactly sure how the majority of Clovis feels about the ordinance or the abortion issue in general since no one has asked them and about 38,500 of the city’s residents did not attend that meeting.

But it’s a pretty safe bet Clovis feels like most of the rest of the country – abortion is not a proper option for birth control, it’s a really personal decision when it involves rape or incest or the health of the mother, and it’s never a good idea to give government a big stick so it can beat down whatever feels politically correct in a crowd.

It’s unlikely the City Commission’s ordinance vote will have any impact on anything. No abortion provider has applied for a business license anyway.

It’s also important to remember no private business in the history of the free world has ever been successful in a community where it’s not wanted.

What is likely is the city will be sued if it openly defies state law by passing the proposed ordinance. The governor’s office is just as determined to control us as city hall seems to be and our state government has bigger hammers and more of them.

Ironic, isn’t it? As state taxpayers, we will spend tens of thousands of dollars to sue the city. As city taxpayers, we will spend tens of thousands of dollars to defend the state’s lawsuit.

Don’t forget the federal government cares about this also. Its opinion seems to change every 4 to 8 years.

Our best bet is to abort big government.

— David Stevens

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