UPDATE 2/8/19: In a vote of 40-29, the New Mexico state House of Representatives passed HB-51, an extreme bill that allows abortion up to birth, despite the fact that New Mexicans oppose it. During a radio interview and on her personal Twitter account, Rep. Debbie Armstrong (D) lied when she said the bill “has nothing to do with abortion later in pregnancy.” According to New Mexico Alliance for Life, Armstrong later said “late-term abortions are only allowed for medical necessity” which is also a lie. She then chose to tell the truth after pressure by Rep. Rod Montoya (R) and admitted that the bill would allow for elective abortion up until birth.
The bill now moves to the state Senate where it will be heard in committee as early as Monday.
UPDATE 2/2/19: In a vote of 10-4, the New Mexico House Judiciary Committee passed an expansive abortion bill that legalizes abortion up until birth. The bill will now move to the House floor for a vote. If it passes the House and the Senate, the governor has said she will sign it.
According to LifeNews, hundreds of New Mexicans attended the hearing of the bill, which will not only fully legalize abortion, but remove conscience protections for medical professional who object to abortion. could force medical professionals who morally object to abortions to commit them anyway. LifeNews has reported that many of the pro-lifers in attendance were not allowed to testify against the bill by pro-abortion chairwoman, Rep. Gail Chasey.
1/31/19: New Mexico Alliance for Life has confirmed that tomorrow, Friday, February 1, the House Judiciary Committee will vote on whether or not to move an abortion bill – HB-51 – to the House. The bill has already cleared one committee and must clear one more before reaching the House floor. It seeks, among other things, to force healthcare workers to participate in abortions despite their moral or religious objections.
The bill, introduced by State Rep. Joanne Ferrary, seeks to ban portions of New Mexico’s abortion law from 1969 which criminalized abortion except in certain circumstances such as rape, fetal diagnosis, or risk to the mother’s health. Due to the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 legalizing abortion in the United States, the New Mexico laws against abortion were mostly unenforceable; however, should Roe v. Wade be overturned, pro-abortion New Mexicans want to ensure that abortion-on-demand is legal in the state.
The new bill would repeal Sections 30-5-1 through 30-5-3 of the abortion law. This would include repealing the portion of the law which states that hospitals and hospital staff may refuse to commit abortions based on moral or religious grounds. Currently, medical professionals who refuse to participate in abortion will not receive any disciplinary action. If this new bill is passed, hospital, doctors, and medical staff could be forced to commit or participate in abortions against their will or face punishment.
READ: Planned Parenthood cheers for New York, Virginia abortion legislation
The bill would also decriminalize the intentional killing of a preborn child. The law currently states that a criminal abortion involves the administering of any medicine, drug, or other substance to a pregnant woman – or “using any method or means” – with the intent of causing the “untimely termination of her pregnancy…to destroy the fetus.” Anyone who does so could be guilty of a fourth degree felony and if the woman died as a result of the criminal abortion the person would be charged with a second degree felony. If the bill passes, this law would be void, thereby making it difficult to prosecute anyone who caused the death of a preborn child — even against the mother’s wishes.
According to NM Alliance for Life, the bill also allows for abortion up to birth and allows non-physicians to commit abortions, like New York’s Reproductive Health Act. Recently, Virginia delegates also introduced extreme legislation that would allow abortion up to birth.
NM Alliance for Life is urging pro-lifers in the state to attend tomorrow’s hearing to testify against the bill. A poll shows that 70 percent of New Mexicans are against abortion after 20 weeks.
Editor’s Note 3/25/2019: New Mexico HB-51 would repeal sections 30-5-1 through 30-5-3 of the New Mexico Statutes that defined pregnancy and termination and criminalized abortion. Abortion still remains legal in New Mexico through all nine months of pregnancy.
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