Finally… a victory for life and sanity.
Pro-choice advocates reeling over their unexpected defeat in the New Mexico legislature may have the uproar over late-term abortion bills in New York and Virginia to blame.
Eight New Mexico Democrats crossed party lines Thursday to sink a bill aimed at codifying the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, handing a win to the pro-life movement and a stinging defeat to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on one of her signature issues.
The New Mexico Senate voted 24-18 against H.B. 51, a month after the House approved the measure by a vote of 40-29. Six House Democrats voted against it.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, called the outcome “a stunning victory for pro-lifers,” and praised Democrats who “dealt one of the most significant blows of the year to the extreme abortion camp.”
“New Mexico’s bill was supposed to be a slam dunk. But after New York, nothing on abortion is a sure thing — not anymore,” said Mr. Perkins in a Friday post.
New Mexico Democrats had viewed 2018 as the year to expand abortion rights after a November election sweep that saw them pick up seats in the legislature and replace term-limited Republican Gov. Susana Martinez with the Democrat Grisham.
The pro-choice legislation was billed as nothing more than a repeal of a dormant 1969 law making it a felony to perform abortions except in certain cases, which supporters said could become enforceable if President Trump’s judicial picks overturn Roe.
Foes saw the measure as far more radical, threatening to remove the state’s conscience protection for medical professionals who object to performing or participating in abortions, and enshrining into law the state’s no-limits status quo.
New Mexico Alliance for Life executive director Elisa Martinez characterized H.B. 51 as “the most extreme abortion up to birth bill in the country.”