LUBBOCK, Texas (NewsNation Now) — Thousands of people in Texas are pushing back after Planned Parenthood announced it was returning to the City of Lubbock at the end of the year.

It’s one of 10 small towns in the Lonestar state considering an ordinance declaring it a “sanctuary city for the unborn.”

The proposal seeks to ban abortions in Lubbock city limits. The local city council has been quiet about the ordinance until this week.

Lawyers for the City of Lubbock said the ordinance has some major legal issues.

Attorneys argue it would automatically be null and void because the Texas Constitution doesn’t allow cities to adopt ordinances that are inconsistent with Texas state law.

They said the sanctuary city ordinance “creates offenses for some actions that are in fact permitted by the state.”

Republican State Sen. Charles Perry, who is leading the sanctuary city movement, said that’s not true.

He’s disappointed because he says most of his community is anti-abortion.

“Clearly, the council doesn’t understand nor have they wanted to spend the time to understand what the ordinance is doing and how it’s written within the confines or existing federal and state law. It’s clear they don’t wanna deal with this issue,” Perry said.

Sanctuary city supporters have enough signatures that could possibly force the issue to be on the ballot next May, Perry said.

So far, Lubbock City Council members have not requested the ordinance to be on the upcoming agenda.

Since June 2019, 15 cities across Texas have become “sanctuary cities” by outlawing abortion, according to the “Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Project.”

That group told NewsNation it is in conversations with a city in Florida. If that city approves it, this would be the first such ordinance outside of Texas.