The state’s number one lawyer Attorney General Hector Balderas (D), now serving his second term in office, is concerned about ordinances Land of Enchantment cities are passing or attempting to pass to limit a person’s legal right to reproductive health care.
Hobbs is one of the cities AG Balderas is directing his attention after the city’s all-male city commission unanimously approved an ordinance that requires abortion providers conducting business within the Hobbs City Limits to operate “following federal law”.
According to the Alamogordo Conservative Daily, the Hobbs ordinance “…does not ban abortion outright. Instead, it draws on a decades-old federal law still on the books, prohibiting supplies or medications needed for abortion from being sent through the mail.” This outdated law provides shaky legal ground for the anti-abortion extremists behind these local ordinances.
In a recent public statement AG Balderas said about a city relying on an age-old, unused federal law, “I am concerned and have directed staff to evaluate this recent activity, due to the city’s legal obligation to protect access to healthcare for women and families.”
American Civil Liberties of New Mexico Civil Rights Attorney Ellie Rushforth supports AG Balderas’s concerns. She said, “The reality is these anti-abortion clinic ordinances make dubious legal claims that expose the city and its citizens to potentially significant liability. Despite efforts to restrict access to health care, let us be clear – abortion remains safe and legal in New Mexico.”
Clovis Commissioners Delay Vote
Like Hobbs, the City of Clovis has been considering an abortion-restricting ordinance. However, on November 3 Clovis city commissioners decided to delay voting on their city’s ordinance. According to an article posted at Rueters.com, all eight members of the Clovis city commission said that they would like to “ban abortion” but that they want to “perfect” the language of their ordinance before passing it. The goal is to better protect their city from possible future litigation.
Speaking out about how the proposed Clovis ordinance and other ordinances that attempt to limit “rights and personal autonomy”, Nora Sackett, press secretary for newly re-elected New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, said, “New Mexico law is clear – reproductive healthcare is legal and protected throughout the state. Access to medication abortion services are legally protected statewide, including for residents of Clovis, and any provider delivering safe medical services to New Mexicans should have every right to establish a practice.”
Hobbs Does Not Have an Abortion Clinic
Neither Hobbs nor Clovis has an abortion clinic, and the Hobbs abortion-limiting ordinance is the first of its kind to be passed in the Land of Enchantment.
Anti-abortion proponents hope that cities that take up the cross and pass ordinances like the one in Hobbs will discourage abortion providers from setting up in their cities. Currently, Albuquerque, at least a four-hour drive from southeastern New Mexico or East Texas border regions, is currently the closest destination for people living in these areas to seek reproductive health care.
Texas’s largest abortion provider Whole Woman’s Health (WWH) was forced to close its Texas abortion clinics after state law made abortions illegal. Since closing its Texas clinics, WWH has been looking at Hobbs to open a new clinic. Now that Hobbs has passed its abortion-limiting ordinance, WWH is giving second thought to establishing shop in Hobbs. The organization’s CEO Hagstrom Miller said expressing her concerns about Hobbs’ as a venue, “I want to be sure we’re in a place where our patients can be safe, where our doctors and our staff can be safe.”
AG Balderas Protects Interstate Travel
Beyond delving into the legalities of “anti-abortion” ordinances like the one passed in Hobbs, AG Balderas has joined 20 other state attorneys general in signing an amicus brief, known as a “friend of the court” brief, that supports the contention that “…Texas’ abortion laws unlawfully interfere with the constitutional right to interstate travel.” In simple language Texas abortion laws restrict all people who are pregnant and living in or visiting Texas from crossing state lines to attain abortions.
It is worth noting that some New Mexico residents live in Texas to go to school or for work. While living in Texas these people could be in need of an abortion. Additionally, visitors to Texas might find themselves in need of an abortion while traveling. AG Balderas is committed to ensuring that anyone in Texas wanting reproductive healthcare is not obstructed from traveling to New Mexico, where such care is legal, to attain needed services.
“I will always protect New Mexicans and our healthcare providers from legal threats that infringe on constitutional rights, including the right to travel across state lines,” stated AG Balderas.
