'A period of reckoning:' What happens in New Mexico if Roe v. Wade is struck down?

If the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established a federal right to abortion, as appears likely, New Mexico will be among states where the procedure remains legal — but it almost didn't work out that way.

On May 2, Politico reported that the U.S. Supreme Court had voted to reverse its holding in Roe, based on a draft ruling the news outlet had obtained. The high court verified the document was authentic, while noting it was a first draft and did not reflect the final decision or the positions of the court's justices on the case's issues.

The news sparked demonstrations at federal courthouses and other locations in cities across the U.S. It also prompted President Joe Biden to call for congressional action codifying women's right to terminate pregnancy safely and lawfully.

Until last year, New Mexico had a 1969 statute on the books that criminalized abortion in most circumstances. The law was unenforceable due to the high court's ruling in Roe, but Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat elected in 2018, made repealing the statute a priority as anticipation grew that Roe might be struck down.

More: Abortion-rights demonstration held in Las Cruces following Supreme Court opinion leak

During the 2021 legislative session, with Democrats holding majorities in both chambers, New Mexico's abortion ban was repealed on a vote that largely followed party lines. A previous effort in 2019 failed after eight Democrats joined Republicans in opposition.

The only prohibition left in statute is a 2000 law banning so-called "partial birth" abortion, in which an independently viable fetus is extracted from the uterus, unless the mother is at risk of death or "great bodily harm."

If the Supreme Court indeed strikes down Roe, it throws the question of abortion rights to the states. As Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the draft: "It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's representatives."

In the wake of such a ruling, which could come this summer, abortion would remain legal in New Mexico, while antiabortion laws could take immediate effect in the flanking states of Arizona and Texas.

That could intensify demand for abortion care in New Mexico among residents of other states. Notably, Shannon Brewer, the director of the Jackson Women's Health Organization in Mississippi (which is at the center of the case before the Supreme Court) told the Washington Post Tuesday the clinic might move to New Mexico.

Democratic lawmakers who spoke with the Las Cruces Sun-News did not see a need for further codification of the right to abortion care in statute. Republicans, meanwhile, were open to proposing limits or measures such as parental notification requirements for minors.

New Mexico state representative says 'we knew this was coming' about Roe v. Wade

"We're entering a period of reckoning for those who wanted to push the issue of life off to the courts," state Sen. Crystal Diamond, R-Elephant Butte, wrote Wednesday, expressing satisfaction that the debate over abortion may soon "return to the states, and in New Mexico, to the 112 legislators duly elected by our citizens."

Last year's repeal of New Mexico's abortion ban, she said, "opened the floodgates for unfettered access to unchecked abortion, turning New Mexico into the abortion capital of the country."

"Whether you support abortion or not, the voices and votes of the people are much more appropriate on an issue of this magnitude than a 50-year old decision decided by nine men," Diamond wrote.

The Senate bill repealing the ban was carried in the House by state Rep. Micaela Lara Cadena, D-Mesilla, who told the Sun-News Wednesday the effort came as several states were enacting abortion bans in defiance of Roe to test them before the increasingly conservative court.

"We knew this was coming; we're at that moment today," she said, but did not foresee a need for further legislation to protect the right, arguing that such a statute would be "largely symbolic" and could be repealed by a future Legislature. Besides that, she argued public opinion across the state favored individuals' rights.

Data from Pew Research Center surveys last year found that 59 percent of Americans supported legal abortion services in most or all cases, while survey data from New Mexico in 2014 found 51 percent support, while 45 percent of respondents said it should be illegal in all or most cases.

"New Mexicans hold all sorts of important religious beliefs and political ideologies," she said, "and they know that someone can hold their own moral beliefs without imposing them on someone else."

Other Democratic state legislators told the Sun-News they similarly believed the ban's repeal was sufficient. State Rep. Joanne Ferrary and state Sen. Carrie Hamblen, both Las Cruces Democrats and cosponsors of the Senate bill repealing the ban, both said they didn't believe further action to protect the legality of abortion in the state was necessary.

Hamblen said she thinks it's imperative the state legislature respond to the Roe news by focusing on funding for abortion access and for providers.

"In southern New Mexico in particular, so many residents have lacked access to healthcare, including abortion care," Hamblen wrote in a statement. "By continuing to fund these services that every woman deserves to have, (we) will not only take care of our own residents but also provide care that women in neighboring states are now forced to seek because of their harmful laws."

Opinion: Overturning Roe would also devastate LGBTQIA+ community

While Diamond argued New Mexico had become a haven for a "multi-million dollar abortion industry," Lara Cadena saw a state committed to providing care for women while respecting the privacy of a medical and moral decision, noting that in New Mexico, medically necessary abortions can be paid for with Medicaid dollars among low-income patients.

However, Lara Cadena noted that the long-standing disparities in access to healthcare across the state required action: "While we have the legal framework to protect abortion access, there's a lot of work to be done in other fronts, to make sure people have the healthcare coverage and the healthcare networks and the support for whatever their healthcare needs are every day."

For her part, Diamond said, "I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass reasonable protections for women and children, while supporting policies that will strengthen families and encourage prosperity."

New Mexico GOP gubernatorial hopefuls support limiting abortions

All five of the Republican candidates for governor call themselves pro-life and support limiting or restricting abortions. Many talk about their opposition to abortions during or after the late second trimester of pregnancy, also called late-term abortion — a non-medical term for a procedure that accounts for only a small percentage of abortions in New Mexico.

Rep. Rebecca Dow, R-Truth or Consequences, who is leaving her seat to run for governor, said she believes that women can succeed both personally and professionally without the procedure.

Dow said she had an unexpected pregnancy at 19 and "chose life," leading to the birth of her daughter. In responding to the news about Roe, Dow used extreme language to convey her views.

"Roe v. Wade led to the genocide of a voiceless generation," Dow told the Sun-News in a statement. "I'm happy to see that we're close to overturning this heinous ruling."

Dow did not say she would use any executive authority as governor to act on abortion. But she did say she would "sign every pro-life bill that comes to my desk."

Her most prominent primary rival, Mark Ronchetti, was unavailable for comment. Sandoval County Commissioner Jay Block and Ethel Maharg, former mayor of Cuba, New Mexico, also running for governor, did not respond to inquiries.

Greg Zanetti, a former U.S. brigadier general and financial advisor running in the Republican primary, said he served on the New Mexico Right to Life board for 15 years. Zanetti said he supported decisions about abortion being returned to the states and said he would not exert his beliefs by fiat.

"Unlike Michelle Lujan Grisham, I do not intend to govern by executive order," Zanetti said in a statement. "Instead, I will work with the legislature to end the abhorrent practice of late-term abortion in New Mexico."

New Mexico’s Libertarian Party, which holds third-party status in the state, states in its platform that “all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives” yet does not take a categorial position on abortion.

Libertarian candidate Karen Bedonie, a former Republican, identifies as “pro-life,” consistently writing the phrase in capital letters on her website: “Libertarians are as free to be as PRO-LIFE as each individual sees fit. I come from a PRO-LIFE TRIBE, the Navajo people. It is sacred for women to bring life.”

New Mexico state Rep. Micaela Lara Cadena says Roe v. Wade shows 'elections matter'

Yet Lara Cadena emphasized the ruling would not immediately outlaw abortions across the country and that when it comes to protecting access, “Elections matter, I can’t say that enough.”

Delaney Corcoran, a spokesman for the Democratic Party of New Mexico concurred in a comment stating, “The future of abortion access in New Mexico depends on electing Democrats up and down the ballot this November.”

In its own response to the ruling, the state Republican Party wrote, “State elections will be even more critical, and electing conservative, pro-life governors and legislatures will help ensure abortions are restricted.”

State Rep. Javier Martinez, the House’s Democratic leader, said that as long as his party retains its majority in Santa Fe, “we will continue to play good defense on any type of restriction that the other side may want to seek to impose on abortion.”

Beyond that, he suggested the priority should be addressing gaps in New Mexico’s healthcare system: “We know that people in rural communities, especially, may have to drive four or five hours one way to seek reproductive healthcare. We need to have a system that is accessible across the board to any New Mexican who wants reproductive healthcare access.”

When it comes to reproductive healthcare in particular, he added, “I will always, always, always listen and seek guidance from, first and foremost, women and the people who have been embedded in this movement for many, many years.”

Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451, adammassa@lcsun-news.com or @AlgernonWrites on Twitter.

Michael McDevitt is a city and county government reporter for the Sun-News. He can be reached at 575-202-3205, mmcdevitt@lcsun-news.com or @MikeMcDTweets on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Here's what will happen in New Mexico is Roe v. Wade is struck down