NM Supreme Court strikes down anti-abortion ordinances adopted by local governments

The Albuquerque Journal ^ | January 9, 2025 | Dan Boyd

[CedarDave]

SANTA FE — The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled Thursday that local governments cannot restrict abortion services, striking down ordinances adopted by Clovis, Hobbs and two eastern New Mexico counties.

The unanimous ruling came more than one year after the state's highest court heard arguments in a case brought by Attorney General Raúl Torrez that attracted several outside groups.

In their ruling, the justices said the local anti-abortion ordinances violate state law and overstep the authority local governments hold by seeking to regulate health care access.

"Our Legislature granted to counties and municipalities all powers and duties not inconsistent with the laws of New Mexico," Justice Shannon Bacon wrote in her opinion.

"The ordinances violate this core precept and invade the Legislature’s authority to regulate access to and provision of reproductive health care," she also wrote.

In all, at least six New Mexico jurisdictions — the cities of Clovis, Hobbs, Eunice and Edgewood and Lea and Roosevelt counties — adopted ordinances that activists call de facto abortion bans.

Several of the ordinances restricted the operation of abortion clinics — even though most of the towns do not have any clinics — and allowed for legal action to be taken against anyone who receives medication intended to cause an abortion through the mail.

The legal showdown over abortion in New Mexico came after state lawmakers in 2021 approved a measure repealing a long-dormant state abortion ban.

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark ruling of Roe v. Wade a year later, prompting some neighboring states, including Texas, to approve near-total abortion bans.

In addition, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed measures in 2023 aimed at shielding New Mexico abortion providers from out-of-state arrest warrants and lawsuits and blocking the local anti-abortion ordinances from taking effect.

[CedarDave]

Since 2021 an increasing number of women have traveled to New Mexico to receive abortion services, euphemistically labeled as "reproductive health services," making New Mexico the abortion capital of the southwest if not the US. Additionally the governor included $10 million dollars in the state budget to build and equip an abortion clinic* in Las Cruces.

* Governor breaks ground on new reproductive health clinic in Doña Ana County (September 2024)

[CedarDave]

NM list PING!

I may not PING for all New Mexico articles. To see New Mexico articles by topic click here: New Mexico Topics

To see NM articles by keyword, click here: New Mexico Keywords

To see the NM Message Page, click here: New Mexico Messages

(The NM list is available on my FR homepage for FR member use; its use in the News Forum should not be for trivial or inconsequential posts. Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)
(For ABQ Journal articles requiring a subscription, you may be allowed a number of free article views.)

[libertylover]

reproductive health care

Pffffft. So they don't have to speak the unspeakable truth.

[rktman]

They can come to Nevada as well. Used to be up to 26 weeks but the recent election opened it up even more. Lose your money and your fetus on the same trip. Sad!

[fidelis]

This is why the fight is not over. Local people who thought it was need to get off their butts to vote in conservative pro-life officials (which leads to more conservative judges). And in a blue state like New Mexico, that takes a lot of money, including from out of state. That’s how liberals do it. It also takes changing the minds of young voters through organizations like Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point. This made a HUGE difference in the last elections.