ABORTION FREE NEW MEXICO

New Mexico Supreme Court Tramples Pro-Life Counties and Cities Right to Protect the Unborn

1/9/2025

By Bud Shaver,

Santa Fe, New Mexico- The New Mexico Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Thursday, January 9, 2025 that counties and cities across the state cannot enact pro-life laws to protect pre-born babies. The Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn ordinances that were passed in New Mexico are known as Comstock Only Ordinances. These laws are not explicit abortion bans, but are "de facto" abortion bans. They require compliance with federal statutes specifically, specifically 18 U.S.C. § 1461 and 18 U.S.C. § 1462, prohibiting the mailing and receiving of abortion-inducing drugs and paraphernalia, according to Mark Lee Dickson.

According to the New Mexico Supreme Court's overriding opinion,

The Court wrote that the ordinances did not exactly follow federal law but went beyond the requirements. Several of the ordinances authorized city or county leaders to approve or deny licenses for abortion clinics and providers.

'Because Respondents’ authority to regulate health care access and physician licensure is entirely preempted, Respondents’ police powers in these areas are extremely limited,' the Court wrote. 'To the extent Respondents have any residual authority, they certainly have no power to supplant the will of the statewide electorate in favor of their own.'

The counties and cities affected by the decision are: Lea County, Roosevelt County, Eunice, Clovis, Hobbs and Edgewood New Mexico. These local governments argued that the ordinances constituted a lawful exercise of their powers for protecting the “health and safety” of their residents.

Abortion Free New Mexico first reported in 2019 on Lea County becoming first county in New Mexico to take this bold action:

Lea County Board of County Commissioners passed, “A Resolution In Support of the Unborn” making Lea County the FIRST Sanctuary County in New Mexico for the UNBORN! Jonathan Sena, District 4 County Commissioner sponsored the resolution. Thank you and God Bless Lea County, New Mexico!

The other counties and cities soon followed in their footsteps and took swift action to enact pro-life measures to prevent radical pro-abortion expansion into their communities.

As reported by the Las Cruces Sun News, Abortion Free New Mexico has fully supported these efforts.

After each local government in New Mexico voted to adopt a resolution essentially denouncing abortion, the fiercely anti-abortion organization Abortion Free New Mexico, run by Albuquerque residents Bud and Tara Shaver, issued a news release touting the action."

Full report: New Mexico at forefront of nationwide sanctuary cities for the unborn movement

Tara Shaver, spokeswoman for Abortion Free New Mexico issued the following statement:

In 2022, the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ruled that states all across the country can now enact and enforce laws protecting the unborn. The Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn ordinances were based on federal laws that should absolutely be enforceable in every state.

The unconstitutional ruling by the New Mexico Supreme Court just proves that federal protection must be granted to restore personhood to the unborn because it should never be left up to corrupt states to arbitrarily decide who lives and who dies. Abortion Free New Mexico condemns the New Mexico Supreme Court's decision to undermine federal laws from being enforced in our state where abortion tourism is so rampant. Women and children deserve better, cities and counties should be able to protect their citizens, whether born or unborn."

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New Mexico Abortion Landscape 2024: Dangerous Trend- Out Of State Traffic And Chemical Abortions Expanding Throughout The State

12/21/2024

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By Bud Shaver,

Albuquerque, New Mexico- As 2024 comes to an end Abortion Free New Mexico has surveyed New Mexico abortion centers to assess their abortion practices. Unfortunately, in the wake of Roe vs. Wade being overturned in 2022 and the longstanding lack of any common sense protections for unborn children and pregnant women, there is now a dangerous trend of out of state abortion clinics relocating to New Mexico as well as chemical abortion providers expanding throughout the state.

Abortionist Alan Braid now owns both Alamo Women's Clinic of Albuquerque and Southwestern Women's Options. Southwestern Women's Options is the notorious late-term abortion center, formerly owned by abortionist Curtis Boyd. Their website advertises abortions up to 32 weeks of pregnancy for "fetal anomalies", but when you call the facility they only schedule elective abortions up to 25 weeks. No further details were given over the phone for scheduling the later-term abortions for fetal anomalies.

See below for the survey analysis, the dangers of chemical abortions, and Abortion Free New Mexico's Abortion Landscape summary of 2024.

Notable Facts

New Mexico allows telemedicine abortions via mail and has no gestational limits on abortion- full term abortions are legal through all nine months of pregnancy.
While ALL of the abortion facilities provide the abortion pill, half (6) of the abortion facilities across New Mexico exclusively provide only chemical abortions also known as medical abortions.
Half (6) of the abortion providers relocated to New Mexico from out of state (4 from Texas).

Notable Dangerous Trend

The majority (9) of New Mexico abortion facilities including ALL of the Planned Parenthood clinics, Whole Woman’s Health, Southwestern Women’s Options, Alamo Women’s Clinic of Albuquerque and The Satanic Temple offer remote or telemedicine appointments where women seeking abortions never step foot into an abortion facility nor do they receive any in-person screenings. The abortion clinic mails the abortion pills and the pregnant woman’s home becomes the abortion facility where they will flush their baby down the toilet after taking two different medications, Mifepristone (blocks progesterone) and Misoprostol (triggers contractions).

ALL of the free-standing abortion facilities distributing the abortion pill across New Mexico are prescribing the medical abortions well beyond the FDA’s approved cut off of 10 weeks.

7 New Mexico abortion facilities are distributing the abortion pill up to 11 weeks.
3 dispense the pill up to 11 weeks 6 days.
Full Circle Health Center located in Las Cruces, New Mexico offers the abortion pill up to 12 weeks.
Ironically the Satanic Temple is the only abortion provider abiding by the FDA’s protocols and only distributing the abortion pill up to 10 weeks gestation.

Abortion Pills Are Dangerously Distributed Well Beyond 7 Weeks

While the FDA initially approved the abortion pill to only be administered up to 7 weeks gestation, in 2016 the FDA approved the abortion pill for use up to 10 weeks gestation but only when administered during an in-person visit where an ultrasound is performed to ensure that there in not an ectopic pregnancy. Abortion facilities across New Mexico are dangerously administering the abortion pill remotely with no in-person visit to unsuspecting women well beyond 10 weeks, in violation of FDA protocols.

According to Operation Rescue's recently released 2024 Annual Report,

It’s important to note that even the 10 week gestational cut-off is much later than what was originally approved by the FDA. Mifeprex (mifepristone) was first approved for chemical abortions in 2000 with a gestational cut-off of seven weeks. In 2016, the gestational cut-off was moved to 10 weeks, when paired with an in-person visit. This dangerous rollback ushered in a steady removal of safety regulations over the next several years.

Those removals came to a head in 2020, when the Biden administration used the COVID pandemic to temporarily suspend the requirement that abortion drugs must be given during an in-person visit with a doctor.

Shortly after Biden allowed the temporary suspension, the FDA made that change permanent, and abortion-pills-by-mail began to skyrocket. When a group of doctors dealing with growing complications from the reckless use of the abortion pill regimen tried to challenge these dangerous changes in the courts, the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ruled the doctors had no standing and allowed all the rollbacks to stay in place."

The Abortion Pill has a "Black Box" Warning

It is important to note that the abortion pill was approved by the FDA in 2000 to only be used up to 7 weeks gestation due to serious risks and health complications including death. In fact, the abortion pill comes with notorious "Black Box" warning.

According to ConsumerSafety,

What 'Black Box' Means: Drugs only receive this label in the case of serious, often deadly adverse reactions, which have been reported to the FDA after the drug was originally approved. In some cases, the manufacturers of these drug hid their knowledge of the side effects to speed the approval process, so the problems weren't found until after release."

A concise summary from ChatGPT explains,

The abortion pill, also known as the medication abortion regimen, typically involves two drugs: mifepristone and misoprostol. The black box warning associated with mifepristone, which is the first drug in the regimen, is issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to highlight the serious risks that can occur with its use. The black box warning is the FDA's most serious safety alert and is used when there are significant potential dangers that users need to be aware of.

In the case of mifepristone, the black box warning is related to:

1. Risk of Serious Infection
There have been reports of sepsis, a life-threatening infection, following medication abortions, particularly in cases where an infection has spread after the procedure. The risk is higher when there is a retained pregnancy tissue or infection in the uterus.
Clostridium sordellii, a rare bacterium, has been implicated in some of these cases, which can cause severe infection and can be fatal if not treated promptly.
2. Risk of Heavy Bleeding
Some women may experience heavy or prolonged bleeding following the use of mifepristone, which may require medical attention. While bleeding is a normal part of the abortion process, excessive or uncontrolled bleeding can pose a serious risk to health.
3. Ectopic Pregnancy
The medication is not effective for terminating an ectopic pregnancy, where the fertilized egg implants outside the uterus, often in a fallopian tube. If the pregnancy is ectopic and treated with mifepristone, it can lead to complications such as rupture and internal bleeding, which may be life-threatening.
4. Misuse or Unsupervised Use
The FDA also emphasizes that mifepristone should only be taken under medical supervision because improper use (such as using it without medical guidance or in cases where it is not indicated) can lead to serious complications.

The FDA ‘black box’ warning on the use of the abortion pill highlights the need for proper medical supervision, including screening for ectopic pregnancies and monitoring for potential complications. The warning serves as a precaution to inform patients and healthcare providers about these risks."

According to a clinical trial conducted by the NIH titled, "Deaths and Severe Adverse Events after the use of Mifepristone as an Abortifacient from September 2000 to February 2019". There were 2660 (AER's) Adverse Event Reports:

2660 (83.20%) Codable US AERs. (Figure 1). Of these, 20 were Deaths, 529 were Life-threatening, 1957 were Severe, 151 were Moderate, and 3 were Mild.
20 were Deaths, 529 were Life-threatening, 1957 were Severe, 151 were Moderate, and 3 were Mild.

The deaths included: 9 (45.00%) sepsis, 4 (20.00%) drug toxicity/overdose, 1 (5.00%) ruptured ectopic pregnancy, 1 (5.00%) hemorrhage, 3 (15.00%) possible homicides, 1 (5.00%) suicide, 1 (5.00%) unknown. (Table 1).

Retained products of conception and hemorrhage caused most morbidity. There were 75 ectopic pregnancies, including 26 ruptured ectopics (includes one death)."

Documented Abortion Injuries

Since 2010, members of Abortion Free New Mexico have documented at least 50 abortion related injuries, including one death at abortion facilities across New Mexico. These documented abortion injuries were related to surgical abortions obtained by 911 records, confidential informants and eye witness testimony.

View the 50 documented abortion injuries here

Year End New Mexico Abortion Landscape 2024

12 Abortion Facilities (1) Remote/Online Satanic Temple

Whole Woman’s Health of New Mexico, Albuquerque- Provides medical abortions up to 11 weeks for $600. Telemedicine option available. Surgical abortions up to 20 weeks for $2,475. NM Medicaid will cover 100%. Relocated here from Texas.
UNM Center for Reproductive Health, Albuquerque- Medical abortion offered up to 11 weeks 6 days for $600. Surgical abortion up to 23 weeks 6 days for $3,000. Medicaid will cover 100%.
Southwestern Women’s Options, Albuquerque- Performs Medical abortion up to 11 weeks 6 days for $600. Telemedicine abortion available. Surgical abortion up to 25 weeks $5,000. Medicaid will cover 100%. Recording promotes minors don’t need parental consent and will provide full funding and travel expenses to minors for their abortions! Relocated here from Texas in 2010.
Alamo Women's Clinic of Albuquerque- Performs Medical abortion up to 11 weeks 6 days for $600. Telemedicine abortion available. Surgical abortion up to 25 weeks $5,000. Medicaid will cover 100%. Recording promotes minors don’t need parental consent and will provide full funding and travel expenses to minors for their abortions! Relocated here from Texas. (Southwestern Women's Options and Alamo Women's Clinic of Albuquerque now have the same owner, Abortionist Alan Braid.)
Eubank Health Center, Albuquerque (Planned Parenthood)- Provides medical abortions up to 11 weeks for $625. Remote telemedicine option available. Surgical abortions performed up to 18 weeks for $1,417. Medicaid will cover 100%.
(Chemical Abortions Only) Farmington Planned Parenthood- Distributes medical abortions up to 11 weeks for $625. Remote telemedicine option available. Medicaid will cover 100%.
Las Cruces Women’s Health Organization- Distributes medical abortions up to 11 weeks $650. Surgical abortions performed up to 16 weeks $750-$1,200. Cash/ card only No insurance or Medicaid. In person only no telemedicine option. Relocated here from Mississippi.
(Chemical Abortions Only) Full Circle Health Center, Las Cruces- Distributes medical abortions up to 12 weeks for $250. NM Medicaid cover 100%. Remote telemedicine option available also mail, in person or drop box pick up.
(Chemical Abortions Only) Las Cruces Health Center (Planned Parenthood)- Medical abortions distributed up to 11 weeks for $625. Remote telemedicine option available. Medicaid will cover 100%.
(Chemical Abortions Only) Hilltop Women’s Reproductive Clinic, (aka Hill Top Family Planning) Dr. Theard (Sunland Park/ Santa Teresa New Mexico)- Provides medical abortions under 11 weeks for $690 (Cash Debit Credit Money order only). Relocated here from Texas.
(Chemical Abortions Only) Santa Fe-Planned Parenthood- Medical abortions distributed up to 11 weeks for $625. Remote telemedicine option available. Medicaid will cover 100%.
(Chemical Abortions Only) Samuel Alito’s Mom’s Satanic Abortion Clinic- Out of state online only, not a free-standing facility. They distribute medical abortions up to 10 weeks.

Chemical Abortion Centers Only are exclusively abortion pill providers.

In conclusion, Tara Shaver spokeswoman for Abortion Free New Mexico issued the following statement:

New Mexico has sadly become a hot spot for abortion tourism and unrestricted abortion. Be it late term abortions, or now chemical abortions, the New Mexico abortion cartel is hell bent on promoting the most dangerous abortion practices upon unsuspecting women. Chemical abortions are being distributed in New Mexico abortion facilities well beyond FDA approved protocols and remotely without any prior in-person screening nor follow up appointments afterwards.

Every day Abortion Free New Mexico volunteers are prayerfully positioned on the sidewalk to let women know that they have options and that abortion is a death sentence for their pre-born child and a risk to their own wellbeing. We pray for new leadership in this state so that there is some measure of accountability for the irresponsible, dangerous abortion expansion that is currently so rampant throughout the state.

In response, Abortion Free New Mexico is launching an interstate campaign UTURNFORLIFE.COM to encourage pregnant mothers to choose life and inform them of the risks posed by the unchecked New Mexico abortion industry, before they ever reach our state. It is our hope that women are empowered by this campaign to be mothers through the resources and help that will be provided for them by the pro-life community.