By Susan Morée
The New Mexico Supreme Court announced Jan. 9 its unanimous decision to invalidate ordinances passed in small communities that previously banned abortion.
Several municipalities passed ordinances banning abortion, relying on an 1800s law called the Comstock Act. Those municipalities were the cities of Clovis and Hobbs along with Lea and Roosevelt counties.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez sued those municipalities in 2023, arguing the ordinances went against the state’s constitution and against a law passed by the New Mexico Legislature prohibiting public bodies from discriminating against abortion rights.
Torrez said during a press conference Thursday that “local governments have no authority whatsoever to engage in that kind of legislative activity that would infringe on the constitutional rights of citizens in this state.”
“The bottom line is this: Abortion access is safe and secure in New Mexico,” Torrez said.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, abortion opponents have pushed the idea that the Comstock Act could be reinforced.
The Comstock Act, passed under President Ulysses S. Grant after the U.S. Civil War, prohibits, among other things, the mailing of supplies related to abortion. The act has not been enforced regarding abortion in more than 50 years.
Shortly after Roe v. Wade fell, Alamogordo and Otero County were the first to pass resolutions banning abortion, but a resolution is not enforceable. Proponents of abortion rights say even unenforceable resolutions banning abortion are designed to create fear within the community regarding abortion access.
Within less than a year after Roe fell, Lea and Roosevelt counties passed enforceable ordinances, as did Clovis and Hobbs. The city of Eunice also passed an ordinance prohibiting abortion as did the city of Edgewood. But Edgewood struggled to approve a resolution to put the abortion ordinance on a local election ballot after a group of citizens filed a petition requesting the citizens weigh in. Both of the Eunice and Edgewood ordinances came after Torrez filed his lawsuit, so they were not named in the suit.
Jazmyn Taitingfong, reproductive rights and gender equity attorney for American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, told NM Political Report the case will still apply to both Eunice and Edgewood. She said the state Supreme Court’s decision was narrow and didn’t address the Comstock Act. She said the court’s justices only addressed the ordinances in light of state law and the state’s constitution.
Valerie Chacon, city attorney for the city of Hobbs, told NM Political Report through email that the city of Hobbs’ stance is that the state lacks a law that denies the city of Hobbs’ ordinance. She said the city of Hobbs passed its ordinance to “preserve the integrity of the local medical profession” and that it is “a matter of business registration.” The Hobbs’ ordinance sets certain requirements for a business license for abortion clinics.
“The Ordinance was enacted to regulate business as we do every business,” Chacon said.
Justin Howalt, city manager for the city of Clovis, told NM Political Report that “the city of Clovis is reviewing today’s Supreme Court ruling and it has no comment in relation to the matter.”
Lea and Roosevelt counties did not respond to a request for comment.
Many Democrats and reproductive rights groups hailed the decision as a victory. Adrienne Mansanares, chief executive officer and president of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, called it a “historic decision.”
“These local abortion bans were a direct attack on the constitutional rights of New Mexicans and an attempt to sow fear, shame and isolation within our communities,” she said.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a statement, saying that as long as she is governor, she will “fight any attempt to limit reproductive healthcare access.”
“Healthcare decisions are personal, and they’ll stay that way in New Mexico,” she said.
Speaker of the House Javier Martinez, D-Albuquerque, said during Torrez’s press conference that “local governments don’t regulate healthcare in New Mexico.”
“It is up to the state,” Martinez said.
The Republican Party of New Mexico issued a statement saying that the decision blocks local officials from “enacting pro-life laws” which “undermines local governance and disregards the values of our communities.”
Abortion clinics that provide abortion services are mostly located only in major cities in New Mexico, such as Albuquerque and Las Cruces. The state has been considered a safe haven for abortion with no restrictions to access since the court overturned Roe and, since then, the state has enacted some of the strongest abortion rights laws protecting both providers and patients. Prior to the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade to let states pass their own abortion laws, New Mexico clinics performed around 3,000 abortions a year. But in 2023 alone, the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive research organization, estimated New Mexico abortion clinics saw 14,200 abortion patients just from Texas.
Any government that passes a law seizing control of my uterus effectively seizes control of my body. This violates the United States Constitution by making me a slave to that government.