Santa Fe, New Mexico. At the state attorney general’s request, the New Mexico Supreme Court on Thursday overturned conservative counties’ and cities’ bans on abortion.
The state’s reputation as having some of the most permissive abortion laws in the nation is strengthened by the unanimous ruling. The decision protects access to abortion services throughout a state that has grown to be a popular travel destination for those from other jurisdictions that have banned the procedure.
Lawyers for the cities of Hobbs and Clovis, as well as Lea and Roosevelt counties in New Mexico, had contended in court that the Comstock Act’s anti-vice sections could not be used to overturn local abortion regulations.
Justice C. Shannon Bacon, who wrote the majority judgment, stated that counties and towns are prohibited by state law from controlling abortion clinics or banning abortion.
She wrote that the ordinances go against this fundamental principle and infringe upon the Legislature’s power to control access to and delivery of reproductive healthcare. We maintain that all of the Ordinances are preempted.
Communities in New Mexico that border Texas, which has one of the strictest abortion restrictions in the country, are strongly opposed to the procedure.