[LWVNM Action] Reproductive Justice Legislation

[Richard Mason]

Dan McKay – ABQ Journal 1/14/23

SANTA FE — Democratic lawmakers pledged Friday to pursue legislation that
would prohibit counties from interfering with abortion rights and allow
individuals to sue if their reproductive health care information is shared.

The legislative package is aimed at strengthening abortion rights in a
state where abortion is already legal but some city and counties are
targeting it with local anti-abortion ordinances.

The bill sponsors said they also want to safeguard the privacy of
individuals who might travel to New Mexico because of abortion restrictions
imposed in their home states.

The legislative package is expected to be broken into two bills — one
starting in the House, the other in the Senate.

“We want to make sure people aren’t scared to get the health care they
need,” Democratic Rep. Linda Serrato of Santa Fe said Friday in an online
news conference.

She plans to sponsor a bill prohibiting cities, counties or other public
bodies from restricting reproductive health care rights. It would also
prohibit discrimination against an individual’s right to health care
related to gender.

The proposal follows the passage of anti-abortion ordinances in Roosevelt
County and other communities near the Texas line.

Roosevelt County commissioners, for example, voted for an ordinance that
aims to ban use of the mail or other interstate carriers to deliver
abortion drugs. It would be enforced by allowing individuals to file civil
lawsuits seeking damages of at least $100,000.

Commissioner Rodney Savage, a Republican from Portales, said the
Legislature should allow communities to develop their own abortion
regulations.

“There’s overwhelming support for pro-life in our part of the country,” he
told the Journal.

Ellie Rushforth, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of New
Mexico, said the local anti-abortion ordinances are already
unconstitutional. But the state legislation would address misinformation,
she said, and make it clear that access to abortion or other health care
can’t be curtailed by local politicians.

A second proposal — to be sponsored by Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Albuquerque —
would put into law an executive order issued last year by Gov. Michelle
Lujan Grisham, prohibiting state agencies from sharing the reproductive
health care information of patients or providers.

It’s intended, supporters said, to protect people from out-of-state
investigations or harassment.

The measure would also allow patients or providers to file lawsuits against
public agencies, private companies or nonprofit groups that share personal
medical data related to reproductive health care.

“While (federal law) provides some protections for this information, we
know that it is not enough,” Rushforth said, “particularly given the
insidious attacks on reproductive freedom.”

The two bills are expected to be introduced in the 60-day legislative
session that opens Tuesday.

The package comes after abortion rights played a central role in the 2022
campaigns for the Roundhouse.

Democrats — who maintained a healthy majority in the state House and kept
control of the executive branch — vowed to safeguard reproductive health
care rights after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and sent
the debate to state governments.

Abortion has remained legal in New Mexico because Lujan Grisham signed
legislation two years ago repealing a 1969 statute that made it a crime in
most cases.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.swcp.com/pipermail/action/attachments/20230114/3e09c5bb/attachment.htm>