Yesterday, the Associated Press reported that the office of New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas sent a letter to the Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives, a congressional committee investigating the possibility of the illegal trafficking of human fetal tissue in the United States, stating that his office “conducted civil and criminal reviews but found no evidence” that any violations were committed in the exchange of aborted fetal body parts between late-term abortion facility Southwestern Women’s Options (SWO) in Albuquerque and the University of New Mexico.
As previously reported by Live Action News, the Select Panel made fifteen criminal referrals regarding SWO and UNM back in December 2016, more than a year ago. However, in June 2017, Live Action News’ Susan Michelle-Hanson reported that Balderas had allowed many of these criminal claims to expire with no investigation whatsoever:
Attorney General Hector Balderas has received numerous criminal referrals from a congressional committee, yet NMAFL says no significant action has been taken. According to NMAFL Director Elisa Martinez, Balderas “has allowed 83 claims to expire and has yet to make any indictments in the face of clear evidence of systemic criminal offenses.” NMAFL sees no evidence of an active investigation, despite recent reports that the attorney general is investigating charges. At a press conference, Martinez revealed that Balderas is allowing the statute of limitations run out on possible charges without so much as investigating their veracity.
In response to Balderas’ letter, New Mexico Alliance for Life president Elisa Martinez claimed in an email that Balderas did not actually investigate or speak to victims bringing suit against SWO: “We already have a New Mexico District Court stating these same civil cases [Balderas] failed to prosecute are indeed viable and prosecutable, based on the evidence on its face in violation of NM statute. It is shameful and disgusting that he isn’t prosecuting the law on behalf of New Mexico women and by not even bothering to contact the victims, he chose to trust the lawbreakers over trusting women.”
Attorney Michael Siebel, who represents the victims bringing suit against SWO, added, “I don’t know a single attorney who would issue a non-prosecution letter without talking to the victim, investigating the facts, or indicting a single person; what Hector Balderas did is not justice but rather protecting political special interests.”
Southwestern Women’s Options is a late-term abortion facility which has been found willing to abort healthy preborn children at 30 weeks for the mother’s life “stress.” This facility was featured in Live Action’s InHuman investigation:
The AP noted NMAFL’s objections to Balderas’ letter, stating, “The New Mexico Alliance for Life on Thursday said there are contradictions between the findings and a pending case in state district court that centers on whether women had enough information to consent to an abortion and the donation of tissue.”
In December 2017, the Assistant Attorney General of the United States sent a letter to Congressman Steve Pearce, informing him of the Justice Department’s intention to launch its own investigation into the criminal referrals in New Mexico. The letter stated, that “the four referrals made by the Panel to the Department itself” as well as “all other referrals made to state and local agencies as well” were received by the Criminal Investigative Division of FBI Headquarters “for review and any action deemed appropriate.”
