[LWVNM Action] codifying reproductive rights

[Richard Mason]

I guess we know one of our priorities. - Dick Mason

Democratic lawmakers will seek to codify abortion rights in next session

·         By Robert Nott rnott at sfnewmexican.com
<https://www.santafenewmexican.com/users/profile/robert> Nov 12, 2022
Updated 8 hrs ago



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Following Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s victory in Tuesday’s midterm
election, Democratic lawmakers are wasting no time preparing legislation
that will ensure women in New Mexico have access to abortion services.

Lujan Grisham, an abortion rights supporter, made it a keystone issue
during her campaign against GOP contender Mark Ronchetti, arguing that if
he won, abortion would be outlawed in the state.

And though she signed a bill fashioned by lawmakers in 2021 formally
removing abortion as a criminal offense, some Democrats want to codify a
woman’s right to get an abortion.

Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Albuquerque — who sponsored the 2021 bill doing away
with a decades-old law making it a crime to perform an abortion — said this
week she is still shaping the codification legislation, which she plans to
introduce during the 2023 legislative session, which begins in January.

She said the legislation will be based on Lujan Grisham’s executive order,
issued in August, declaring “abortion is an essential part of reproductive
health care and must remain legal, safe and accessible” and expanding
access to reproductive health care services in the state.

“In light of what the governor and others are talking about, we want to
make sure providers — for New Mexicans and for those who come across state
lines — are protected,” Lopez said.

She said the legislation will also support and protect other reproductive
measures, including contraception and family planning.

Rep. Linda Serrato, D-Santa Fe, said she plans to shape and co-sponsor the
bill with Lopez.

“The basic right to bodily autonomy and health care is the least we should
provide for New Mexicans,” Serrato said, adding she sees abortion care as a
form of health care.

“What we are hoping to do is increase access to abortion care, reproductive
health care across the state,” she said of the proposed legislation,
especially since many states, including Texas, have banned abortion.

Serrato said women seeking abortion services may find themselves “sectioned
off” depending on which part of the country they live in.

Serrato wrote in a text it’s “too early” to provide specifics on the bill.

Lujan Grisham’s executive order directed the state Department of Finance
and Administration to allocate $10 million of the governor’s capital outlay
money from the upcoming 2023 legislative session to the creation of a
clinic in Doña Ana County, in the southern part of the state.

That clinic would provide “reproductive healthcare, including abortion,”
the executive order says. It also calls for the development of a “detailed
plan” to leverage state resources to expand access to reproductive health
care, including abortion services.
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Kayla Herring, public affairs director for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky
Mountains, said the need for such legislation is key now in the wake of
both the U.S. Supreme Court decision in June overturning Roe v. Wade and
efforts by some communities in states where abortion is legal to restrict
access to abortion services.

“Our policy is critical this year because we know New Mexicans support
access to reproductive health care, and we don’t want any level of
government — from city councilor to state legislator to governor — to
interfere with a person’s personal medical decisions,” she said.

The proposed legislative initiative comes just days after the city of
Hobbs, in southeastern New Mexico about 5 miles from the Texas border,
passed an ordinance that would make it difficult for abortion clinics to
open there.

Hobbs city attorney Efren Cortez said Thursday the ordinance is not an
outright ban on abortion clinics, as has been reported in the media. He
said it ties any attempts to open abortion clinics to provisions of federal
statutes that prohibit shipping or receiving abortion-inducing drugs and
other related materials by mail or commercial carrier.

Regarding the proposed legislation that would allow abortion clinics to
operate legally, Cortez said, “if that is something they choose to
undertake, we’ll look at the legislation and see how it impacts the city of
Hobbs ordinance.”

City officials in Clovis, which is also in the southeastern part of the
state near the border with Texas, are considering a similar measure, as is
the county commission of Lea County, which is scheduled to discuss the idea
at a public meeting in early December.

Numerous Democratic-run states have passed laws over the past few years
codifying the right to an abortion, seeking to ensure it would remain legal
in the event of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning the 1973 Roe v.
Wade ruling that had previously protected abortion rights across the
country. The details of these laws have varied from state to state; they
all allow abortion until about 24 weeks or fetal viability, which was the
former national standard under Roe, although they differ as to how they
treat third-trimester abortions, with some allowing abortion at all stages
without restriction and others only allowing third-trimester abortions in
certain circumstances.

If Lopez and Serrato’s bill becomes law — both said they feel the
Democratic-heavy Legislature will support it — it could help stave off
possible legal challenges to abortion rights in New Mexico. There’s already
one such challenge at play.

In July, state Sen. David Gallegos, R-Eunice, joined with a Roswell oil
producer and other New Mexico residents to file a court challenge to the
2021 repeal of the 1969 law that made it a crime to perform an abortion in
the state.

The plaintiffs are asking the courts to decide if, since the Legislature
did not create new statutes to replace the abortion ban that was repealed,
the law reverts to an outright ban on abortion.

That suit survived a motion to dismiss earlier this year. A motion hearing
on the case is scheduled for Nov. 21 in the 5th Judicial District in Chaves
County.

On Thursday, Gallegos said he expected such a move on the part of
Democratic lawmakers because it is a priority of the governor’s.

“I don’t like New Mexico being considered the abortion capital of the
world,” he said. “I think we have a lot more to give than death.”

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Robert Nott <https://www.santafenewmexican.com/users/profile/robert>

General Assignment Reporter

Robert Nott has covered education and youth issues for the Santa Fe N
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