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At a meeting which began on Tuesday night and ended in the wee hours Wednesday morning, the rown council of Edgewood, New Mexico (pop. 6,174), considered a “Sanctuary City for the Unborn” (SCFTU) ordinance “Requiring Abortion Providers in the Town of Edgewood, New Mexico to Comply with Federal Law.” The council had previously considered the ordinance during a workshop on April 4, determining to hold a final meeting on the ordinance at their meeting on April 25.
The ordinance, which passed 4-1, made Edgewood the 66th city in the nation and the fourth city in New Mexico to pass a SCFTU ordinance. The council meeting, which began at 5:00 pm on Tuesday night and concluded over eight hours later at 1:44 am on Wednesday morning, was not without pushback. And while many amendments were discussed, some which would have even delayed the enforcement date until after the Supreme Court of New Mexico or the Supreme Court of the United States addressed the issue of federal Comstock laws, the council ultimately chose to pass an ordinance which did not contain delayed enforcement, but went into effect almost immediately.
The ordinance is the first SCFTU ordinance passed in New Mexico since Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Health Care Freedom Act into law. The Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Health Care Freedom Act prohibits counties and cities from restricting abortion access and was said by members of the legislature to be a ‘solution’ to cities and counties throughout New Mexico passing SCFTU ordinances.
Photo: Mark Lee Dickson (Facebook)
Senators and representatives from across the state showed up to voice their support or opposition to the measure. Speaking in favor of the ordinance was Representative Stefani Lord (R-Sandia Park) in person, Representatives John Block (R-Alamogordo) and Senator David Gallegos (R-Eunice) via Zoom call, and Senator Gregg Schmedes (R-Tijeras). Representatives speaking against the measure were Representative Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe) and Representative Matthew McQueen (D-Santa Fe).
Like the ordinances passed in the cities of Hobbs, Clovis, and Eunice and the counties of Lea and Roosevelt, the Edgewood Ordinance requires compliance with federal statutes, specifically 18 U.S.C. §§ 1461-1462, which prohibit shipping and receiving of abortion-inducing drugs and abortion-paraphernalia. The ordinance was provided to Commissioner Sterling Donner from the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Initiative and was drafted by Attorney Jonathan F. Mitchell.
After the vote, Representative John Block shared, “I am overjoyed that the Town of Edgewood clearly followed the will of the people to ensure compliance with federal laws protecting women’s health care.” Representative Block continued, “It baffles me that some fringe extremists would rather see women maimed or even killed by the deadly mifepristone drug than follow laws restricting the dangerous chemical from use in the community.”
After the meeting Commissioner Sterling Donner shared, “This is the first step. The first step towards protecting the lives of unborn children. Edgewood just sent a message to everyone stating we will stand for the lives of unborn children.”
Edgewood is the fourth municipality and the sixth political subdivision to pass an ordinance in New Mexico from the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Initiative, the second city in New Mexico to pass an ordinance since New Mexico’s Attorney General filed suit against two cities and two counties in the state, the first city to pass an ordinance since the New Mexico Supreme Court issued a stay of four of the five ordinances which had been passed in the state, and the first city to pass an ordinance since the City of Eunice in New Mexico sued Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and Attorney General Raul Torrez.
