The City of Bristol, Virginia, has taken the first steps in enacting a zoning ordinance to “protect unborn life.” The move was motivated by pro-lifers in the area concerned that the city could become a magnet for abortion businesses. As a result, The Family Foundation, which led the proposal, organized 200 supporters outside the Council chambers to make Bristol a “safe zone for life.”
The proposal, passed by unanimous vote on October 25, states that the City of Bristol “wishes to eliminate the particularly gruesome and barbaric practice of killing unborn babies through the ‘medical’ procedure of elective abortions” and that the City also “seeks to preserve the integrity of the medical profession by not having medical professionals engage in intentionally killing unborn human life.”
City of Bristol zoning ordinance bans abortion clinic protects unborn life
It further orders that “[n]o land, building, structure or other premises located within any zoning district of the City of Bristol may be used to carry out any practice, process, or procedure that is designed to intentionally cause the death or termination of a pre-born human life at any stage of development.”
But the ordinance also states, “The already existing use of any buildings or structures for such purposes must conform to this regulation whenever they are enlarged, extended, reconstructed, or structurally altered, and any nonconforming building or structure may not be moved on the same lot or to any other lot in order to carry out the nonconforming use.”
The City has one abortion facility currently licensed.
“The resolution, which must go through several additional steps before becoming law, also stops existing clinics from expanding or undergoing renovations,” the media outlet TennesseeLookout.com wrote.
“At issue was the fact that abortion centers have begun looking at Bristol, VA, to protect their profits after neighboring states (Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia) enacted laws banning most abortions in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson. For instance, an abortion center located in Bristol, TN — owned by the same operator whose abortion center was at the heart of the Dobbs case — relocated to the Virginia side of the Twin City — directly across from the casino,” The Family Foundation blog stated.
The Council’s vote “means that the City Council is directing the city planning commission to create a zoning plan that would exclude elective abortion facilities from the city plan,” The Family Foundation, which aided in the drafting of the proposed zoning regulations, also wrote. “Bristol now joins other localities like Russell and Tazewell to pass or consider a resolution affirming their desire to protect all human life within its borders, which would certainly be consistent with its own city motto – ‘A Good Place to Live.’”
“I have been on this council for six years and this is, by far, the most important issue that has come before this council,” Councilman Kevin Wingard said in making the motion to approve, according to the Herald Courier. “I believe this council has the full authority to stop other abortion clinics from coming here. We already have one that moved across the state line and it is my opinion one is too many and I don’t want to see a second or a third.”
The proposal now moves to the Planning Commission for review and a recommendation back to council.
