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HILLSDALE, Michigan (LifeSiteNews) — The tiny Michigan town of Hillsdale, home of well-known conservative liberal arts university Hillsdale College, may soon become the nation’s 34th sanctuary city for the unborn.

According to reporting by MLive, the Hillsdale City Council of the college town, which boasts a population just over 8,000, is considering passing an ordinance to declare Hillsdale a “sanctuary for the unborn,” imposing a broad spectrum of restrictions on abortions within city limits.

MLive reported that the ordinance, which was presented at Hillsdale’s city council meeting August 2, “would immediately outlaw any person from doing abortions or providing abortion-inducing drugs at any stage of pregnancy in the city.”

Violators would be subject to a $500 fine and 90 days in jail, with each violation constituting a separate offense.

As reported by MLive, State Rep. Andrew Fink (R-MI), representing Michigan’s Branch and Hillsdale counties, issued a statement on July 30 supporting Hillsdale’s effort to protect the unborn.

“I commend the members of the Hillsdale City Council for taking up this issue to defend the lives of the unborn and encourage them to adopt this ordinance that reflects the crucial values of the local citizens they represent,” Fink said.

“The premise of this measure is simple: no longer would abortion procedures or abortion-inducing drugs be legal within the city bounds of Hillsdale,” the statement continued.

“Our area is deeply rooted in family values and our people are longstanding defenders of the sanctity of life and the right to life that every U.S. citizen is entitled [to], including those still in the womb.”

Under the ordinance it would be illegal to “knowingly aid in an abortion, including providing transportation to an abortion provider, providing instructions or providing payment or insurance toward the abortion,” MLive reported.

33 other towns, predominantly in Texas, have become sanctuaries for the unborn ahead of Hillsdale, criminalizing abortion within city limits and even empowering family members to seek restitution if a child in the family is killed through abortion.

For example, in Lubbock, Texas, which became the state’s 24th sanctuary city, relatives of an aborted child are permitted to sue for compensatory or punitive damages. In addition, any private citizen is authorized to file a lawsuit seeking injunctive relief or statutory damages.

The Hillsdale provision would be similar, granting private citizens the ability to file civil lawsuits against violators of the ordinance.

Exemptions to the ordinance, according to the report, include “if the procedure is done as part of an accidental miscarriage, to remove an ectopic pregnancy or if the mother’s life is at risk due to the pregnancy.”

A section of Hillsdale’s pro-life ordinance would also seek to forbid residents of Hillsdale from obtaining an abortion even outside of city limits. But as MLive noted, the section would not be enforceable unless Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, two landmark Supreme Court decisions which established a precedent for legalized abortion throughout the United States, are overturned by the Supreme Court.

A reversal of court precedent legalizing abortion at the federal level is possible by next year.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, with a decision expected by next summer. The case is expected to address the legality of the current precedent for legalized abortion, and a deluge of amicus briefs have called upon the Court to immediately overturn both Roe and Casey.

In late July Mississippi made headlines by explicitly asking the Supreme Court to overturn the prior rulings. As of last week about 230 GOP lawmakers have joined in the call to throw out the previous rulings.

Pro-life and pro-abortion advocates alike have recognized the case as having the potential to overturn existing abortion precedent, allowing states to outlaw abortion.

Some governments have already pivoted in anticipation of an outcome favorable to pro-life policy.

In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 1280 earlier this year, which would outlaw all abortions in the state within 30 days of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

The bill would “amend the Health and Safety Code to create the criminal offense of prohibited abortion,” making it a crime to perform any abortion.

Under the Texas law, “knowingly performing a partial-birth abortion or intentionally performing a dismemberment abortion unless in a medical emergency is punishable as a state jail felony.”

As noted in the text of the legislation, “[a] first degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for life or a term from 5 to 99 years and a second degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 20 years.”

WTVB reports that Hillsdale’s ordinance to make the town a “sanctuary for the unborn” has been sent to the Council’s Operations and Governance Committee for further review following Monday’s three-hour-long meeting.

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