Petition aims at preventing laws from taking effect

May 30—A Portales man is helping with a statewide petition drive aimed at preventing new laws from taking effect June 18.

Logan Brown, a Portales High School science teacher and parent, said the petitions are targeting six different laws.

"Four of the laws either directly or indirectly deal with abortion or transgenderism, the other two laws affect our elections, election integrity," Brown said.

"House Bill 7 is telling local governing bodies they cannot restrict access to reproductive health care and gender affirming health care. Senate Bill 13 essentially protects providers of abortion/transgender services."

Senate Bill 397, he said, requires public schools to "have to have federally funded health clinics so they are funded by the federal government thus removing local control and tying such facilities to federal control."

The new laws were passed this year by the Democrat-controlled state Legislature, all of them opposed by most Republican lawmakers.

Roosevelt County Democratic party chair Tate Turnbaugh is a proponent of the new laws the petitions seek to overturn.

"The highest suicide rate is of those in high school. It is even higher among those who identify as LGBTQ," Turnbaugh wrote in an email to The News.

"Offering sustainable and quality healthcare that is paid for to public schools can ensure that all students are receiving everything from physical healthcare to much needed mental healthcare.

"Why should we starve our youth of healthcare, because of a make-believe notion that it's government controlled and that's bad. Of course it's government funded. Who else would be able to afford it? Senate Bill 397 does nothing more than provide to students what they absolutely deserve, healthcare."

Brown said House Bill 207 "infringes on freedom of religion and freedom of assembly. It classifies any business that is open to the public a public contractor that may not discriminate based on gender identity or sexual orientation. That's a problem because that opens churches to litigation."

Turnbaugh responded, "Why would a church be so worried about litigation? Is he saying that churches and places of worship are turning people away because of the way God created them?"

Brown said the goal of the statewide petition drive is to gather 180,000 signatures on each.

"And we must collect signatures from three-quarters of the state's counties," he said. "Roosevelt needs about 1,200 signatures and we need about 3,600 signatures from Curry all by June 12," Brown said.

Brown said he believes the threat posed by some of the laws include an infringement on parental rights.

Brown said the petitions can be signed at the following locations:

— Creighton's Town and Country in Portales, 1625 S. Ave. D, on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to -3 p.m.

— Farm Bureau Insurance in Portales, 101 E. First St. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.

— Legacy Church in Portales, 820 W. 18th St. on Sundays from 9 a.m. to noon.

— Clovis Trinity Family Medicine, 701 Arizona St. A, Monday through Friday

— Master's Center during office hours

— and Legacy Church at Llano Estacado and Norris on Sundays from 9 a.m. to noon.