Mark Lee Dickson (born August 16, 1985) is an American pastor and anti-abortion advocate. Dickson has become one of the most influential anti-abortion voices in the United States due to his successful campaigning for cities to ban abortion through local "sanctuary city" ordinances.
Dickson was brought up in Longview, Texas. As a child, Dickson would frequent the Gregg County Fair to visit his grandfather Glenn Canfield, Jr. at his booth for anti-abortion group Right To Life of East Texas. While at this booth Dickson was introduced to fetal models and would sometimes take a twelve-week fetal model home with him. [1] After his grandfather's death of cancer in 2006, Dickson got involved with Right To Life of East Texas, later becoming a director with the organization. [1]
Dickson had attended Kilgore College periodically but dropped out in order to pursue ministry work. In the meantime, he worked as a chaplain at a nursing home, as a pastor at a Baptist church, and as a security guard. [2]
Dickson often bills himself as a “38-year-old virgin”. He has stated that he has had no personal experience with abortion, and that his battles with depression have helped him reflect on the value of life. [2] [3] [1] He is known for wearing a backwards black baseball cap, a suit jacket, a button-down shirt, jeans, and a pair of Vans shoes. [2] [4] [5]
Dickson is a supporter of former President Donald Trump, and believes that he won the 2020 election. He attended the "Save America" rally on January 6, 2021, but claims that he did not enter the Capitol. [2]
He considers all abortions murder, with no exceptions. [6]
In 2018, Dickson became active on end-of-life issues as he worked with Wren and Karen Michel to prevent their 39-year-old son, Jonathan Michel, from being taken off of life support at a hospital in Tyler, Texas. [7] [8] In 2019 Dickson worked with Senator Bryan Hughes and Texas Right To Life on the case of 61-year old Carolyn Jones in Houston, Texas who was about to be removed from life support because of the Texas Advance Directives Act. [8] [9]
Before 2019, Dickson frequently protested outside abortion clinics.
In 2019, the pastor launched his "sanctuary city" initiative. Concerned that an abortion clinic in Shreveport, Louisiana might cross the border and relocate to the small town of Waskom, Texas, he joined conservative attorney and former Solicitor General of Texas Jonathan F. Mitchell to draft legislation regarding sanctuary cities. [10] [11] The duo were able to convince the all-male city council to pass the legislation, rendering it the first municipality in the country to ban abortion. [12] [13] [14] [15]
Ever since his success in Waskom, Dickson has traveled all over Texas, lobbying towns and cities to ban abortion within city limits and become “sanctuary cities for the unborn”. [16] [17] At least 65 [18] cities and two counties have passed "sanctuary city for the unborn" ordinances, including fifty cities in Texas, eight cities in Nebraska, [19] [20] [21] two cities in Ohio, [22] [23] [24] one city in Louisiana, [25] [26] one city in Iowa, [27] [28] and three cities and two counties in New Mexico. [29] [30] The largest city to have enacted one of Dickson's ordinances is Lubbock, Texas. [31] [32] [33] Two cities, Omaha, Texas [34] and Mason, Ohio, [35] later retracted ordinances which Dickson had convinced them to enact. [36]
Since the Supreme Court of the United States' decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization , Dickson has been pushing for county and municipal anti-abortion ordinances in New Mexico, [37] [38] Colorado, [39] and Minnesota, [40] and Montana [41] - in addition to states like Texas and Nebraska.
One major focus of Dickson's New Mexico efforts has been focused on preventing a reproductive healthcare clinic in Texas, Whole Woman's Health, from relocating to the nearby border town of Hobbs, New Mexico. [42] [43] The Hobbs City Commission passed one of Dickson's ordinances in November 2022. [29] The action by the Hobbs City Commission immediately resulted in a condemnation from New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham who criticized the measure as being authored by "out-of-state extremists." [44]
In Colorado, Dickson attempted to thwart the opening of an abortion clinic operated by abortion provider LeRoy Carhart. While Dickson was successful in getting an ordinance introduced by the Pueblo, Colorado city council, [45] [46] the ordinance did not survive its final reading. [47] Dickson and his allies were opposed at the council meeting by Daneya Esgar, who was just finishing her term as House Majority Leader and was the author of Colorado's Reproductive Health Equity Act (RHEA).
In June 2020, Dickson was sued by several abortion-assistance organizations for defamation for statements he made accusing abortion-aiding organizations of taking "part in the murder of innocent unborn human beings." [48] [49] In February, 2023, the Supreme Court of Texas unanimously sided in Dickson's favor - ruling against the three abortion-assistance organizations which had filed suit against him. [50]
Dickson was also the sole non-government actor defendant in a federal lawsuit which challenged the Texas Heartbeat Act. All nine Supreme Court of the United States justices opined that the case against Dickson should be dismissed. [51] [52]
Dickson has been described as an “extremist” and " the primary face and architect” of the Texas Heartbeat Act by Kristin Ford, acting vice president of the pro-choice advocacy group NARAL. [2]
Dickson serves as the Director of Right to Life of East Texas and is the Founder of Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Initiative.
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States generally protected a right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many abortion laws, and caused an ongoing abortion debate in the United States about whether, or to what extent, abortion should be legal, who should decide the legality of abortion, and what the role of moral and religious views in the political sphere should be. The decision also shaped debate concerning which methods the Supreme Court should use in constitutional adjudication.
Waskom is a city in the U.S. state of Texas with a 2020 census-tabulated population of 1,910, down from 2,160 residents in 2010. It is located in Harrison County and lies approximately 19 miles (31 km) east of the county seat, Marshall, on U.S. 80 and Interstate 20. Waskom forms part of Greater Marshall, which is also included in the Longview–Marshall combined statistical area in the Ark-La-Tex region. To the east are the cities of Greenwood and Shreveport, Louisiana.
The United States abortion-rights movement is a sociopolitical movement in the United States supporting the view that a woman should have the legal right to an elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy, and is part of a broader global abortion-rights movement. The movement consists of a variety of organizations, with no single centralized decision-making body.
Abortion is a divisive issue in the United States. The issue of abortion is prevalent in American politics and culture wars, though a majority of Americans support continued access to abortion. There are widely different abortion laws depending on state.
This is a timeline of reproductive rights legislation, a chronological list of laws and legal decisions affecting human reproductive rights. Reproductive rights are a sub-set of human rights pertaining to issues of reproduction and reproductive health. These rights may include some or all of the following: the right to legal or safe abortion, the right to birth control, the right to access quality reproductive healthcare, and the right to education and access in order to make reproductive choices free from coercion, discrimination, and violence. Reproductive rights may also include the right to receive education about contraception and sexually transmitted infections, and freedom from coerced sterilization, abortion, and contraception, and protection from practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM).
A trigger law is a law that is unenforceable but may achieve enforceability if a key change in circumstances occurs.
The legality of abortion in the United States and the various restrictions imposed on the procedure vary significantly depending on the laws of each state or other jurisdiction. Some states prohibit abortion at all stages of pregnancy with few exceptions, others permit it up to a certain point in a woman's pregnancy, while others allow abortion throughout a woman's pregnancy. In states where abortion is legal, several classes of restrictions on the procedure may exist, such as parental consent or notification laws, requirements that patients be shown an ultrasound before obtaining an abortion, mandatory waiting periods, and counseling requirements.
Abortion in Texas is illegal in most cases. There are exceptions to save the mother's life, or prevent "substantial impairment of major bodily function", but the law on abortion in Texas is written in such an ambiguous way that it is unclear to physicians what health harms to the mother constitute an exception. This has prompted expecting mothers with health complications to leave the state or forced them to give birth while jeopardizing their health. The legal status of abortion in Texas is due to a trigger law passed in July 2021 that came in effect on August 25, 2022, as a consequence of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning Roe v. Wade. The law makes no exception for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.
Abortion in Alabama is illegal. Historically, Alabama's abortion laws have evolved from strict regulations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to a period of liberalization following the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide. However, Alabama has consistently enacted legislation aimed at restricting access to abortion.
Abortion in Louisiana is mostly illegal as of August 1, 2022.
Abortion in Colorado is legal at all stages of pregnancy. It is one of seven states without any term restrictions as to when a pregnancy can be terminated.
Abortion in the District of Columbia is legal at all stages of pregnancy. In 1971, in United States v. Vuitch, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law saying abortion was allowed for health reasons, which include "psychological and physical well-being". Consequently, the District of Columbia became a destination for women seeking abortions starting that year.
Abortion in Massachusetts is legal at all stages of pregnancy, although terminations after the 24th week can only be performed if a physician determines it to be medically necessary. Modern Massachusetts is considered to be one of the most pro-choice states in the country: a Pew Research poll finding that 74% of residents supported the right to an abortion in all or most cases, a higher percentage than any other state. Marches supporting abortion rights took place as part of the #StoptheBans movement in May 2019.
Abortion in Mississippi is illegal. The new law took effect on July 7, 2022, after Mississippi State Attorney General Lynn Fitch certified on June 27, the Supreme Court decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization on June 24 of that year. State Attorney General Lynn Fitch's certification made Mississippi's 2007 'trigger law' go into effect and ban all abortions in the state, “except in the case where necessary for the preservation of the mother's life or where the pregnancy was caused by rape".
Abortion in Nebraska is legal up to the 12th week of pregnancy, after new legislation was signed in May 2023. In June 2023, a lawsuit was filed to challenge the state's abortion law. The legislation establishing the law contained provisions concerning both abortion and gender-affirming care, while the state constitution prohibits bills that legislate on multiple issues at once.
Abortion in Ohio is legal on request up to the point of fetal viability. After viability, abortion is legal if, in the professional judgement of an attending physician, the abortion is necessary to protect the pregnant individual’s life or health.
Abortion in South Carolina is legal up to when an embryonic heartbeat can be detected, usually around 6 weeks gestation. On May 25, 2023, Governor Henry McMaster signed a 6-week ban, and it took effect immediately. The ban was indefinitely blocked in court on May 26, and reinstated by the South Carolina Supreme Court on August 23.
Abortion in New Mexico is legal at all stages of pregnancy. The number of abortion clinics in New Mexico has declined over the years, with 26 in 1982, 20 in 1992 and 11 in 2014. There were 4,500 legal abortions in 2014. There were 7 facilities providing abortion in New Mexico in 2017, and 6 of those were clinics. In 2017, 91% of New Mexico counties had no clinics that provided abortions, and 48% of New Mexico women lived in those counties.
Abortion in Florida is currently legal up until a gestational age of 15 weeks, whilst an embryonic heartbeat ban set to take effect on May 1, 2024 restricts abortion after a gestational age of 6 weeks after the woman's last menstrual period. Both pieces of legislation were passed by the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate, then signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis.
The Texas Heartbeat Act, Senate Bill 8, is an act of the Texas Legislature that bans abortion after the detection of embryonic or fetal cardiac activity, which normally occurs after about six weeks of pregnancy. The law took effect on September 1, 2021, after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request for emergency relief from Texas abortion providers. It was the first time a state has successfully imposed a six-week abortion ban since Roe v. Wade, and the first abortion restriction to rely solely on enforcement by private individuals through civil lawsuits, rather than having state officials enforce the law with criminal or civil penalties. The act authorizes members of the public to sue anyone who performs or facilitates an illegal abortion for a minimum of $10,000 in statutory damages per abortion, plus court costs and attorneys' fees.
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