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Santa Fe's KRQE TV news characterized the New Mexico State Legislature's discussion this week as "Contentious debate Tuesday draws in biblical references, accusations, amendments."
It was all of that and more as the Leftist-dominated legislative body pressed for one of the most radical abortion policies in the nation.
Some say it embraces infanticide.
Christian law firm "American Center for Law and Justice" (ACLJ) says, "While this bill is packaged slightly differently from many of the abortion-related bills we’ve seen in the recent months, it is entirely problematic and raises a number of red flags, including some of the use of “perinatal” language we’ve been warning about."
This new approach to killing unwanted unborn babies is not unique to New Mexico.
Be informed, not misled.
The "bill" of many colors.
"As the bill hit the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon, lawmakers on both sides shared extensive opinions and heated debate about the legislation ahead of a vote. The bill passed the House on a 38-to-31 vote two weeks earlier with no Republican votes in favor and six Democrats voting against the bill."
During Tuesday’s debate, Sen. Katy M. Duhigg (D-Bernalillo & Sandoval) explained that the bill doesn’t require doctors to do anything outside the care they already give. “All this law does is it says that a public body can’t block access to that care. It does not require that a provider affirmatively provide it,” Duhigg explained.
“What this bill does is it ensures that local governments can’t block access to that [reproductive or gender-affirming] care,” Duhigg added during the discussion.
And they included this:
Sen. William E. Sharer (R-San Juan) tried to amend the bill to remove the term “perinatal” from the bill, which states the “perinatal” care is a type of reproductive health care. Sharer said that the term “perinatal” means ‘after-birth,’ arguing should not be part of the definition of “reproductive health care” within the bill.
“That’s not an abortion. That is also not women’s healthcare,” Sharer said. “That is infanticide.”
What is "perinatal?"
ACLJ says, "While this bill is packaged slightly differently from many of the abortion-related bills we’ve seen in the recent months, it is entirely problematic and raises a number of red flags, including some of the use of “perinatal” language we’ve been warning about."
First, the bill broadly prohibits New Mexico state or local governments from creating or enforcing “any law, ordinance, policy or regulation that violates or conflicts” with the bill. In other words, if the citizens of New Mexico elect a majority of pro-life politicians at the state and local levels, those lawmakers will be unable to pass pro-life and life-affirming laws because this bill – if passed into law – will restrict and penalize them for doing so.
Second, this bill also broadly prohibits state or local government actors, including school districts and other entities that receive public funding, from “directly or indirectly, interfer[ing] with a person’s ability to access or provide reproductive health care."
ACLJ says, "These two sections alone are concerning. The second section most certainly could be construed as requiring government employees, such as school teachers and doctors, to support or even perform (in the case of doctors) abortions, including those for minor children without parental notification or consent."
While the bill has been amended to include a provision that states that healthcare providers cannot be forced to provide care that they do not otherwise provide, it does not exempt doctors or nurses from participating in abortions due to their religious beliefs and conscience.
The language in this bill is nearly identical to some of the language in the California law passed last year that may effectively legalize some forms of infanticide and the similar bill that was introduced in Maryland.
So what does "perinatal" actually mean?
Both the California and Maryland bills contained the term “perinatal death” in relation to the actual or perceived outcome of a woman’s pregnancy referenced in each respective bill.
The term “perinatal” refers to a period of time generally encompassing the 20th to 28th week of gestation up until 28 days after birth.
28 days after birth.
ACLJ says, "Beware:"
The New Mexico bill does not contain the term “perinatal death,” but it does contain the term “perinatal” as one of the elements of “reproductive health care” which the government cannot interfere, deny, or restrict. HB 7 defines “reproductive health care” as: psychological, behavioral, surgical, pharmaceutical, and medical care, services, and supplies that related to the human reproductive system, including services related to . . . abortion . . . prenatal, birth, perinatal and postpartum health.
As a law firm that frequently dissects pro-abortion legislation, we are all too familiar with the euphemistic terms that the abortion industry pushes to hide its true agenda. This is why it is concerning, and a red flag, that a discussion of perinatal health is contained in a bill that clearly is pushing abortion on demand and without restriction or pushback of any kind. It is even more concerning that this bill wants to prevent prosecution or punishment of a person for “acting or refraining from acting” because of the effect on the pregnancy.
Olivia Summers, writing for the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) says, "Let me put it this way: If a woman is 32 weeks pregnant and takes an abortion pill (also known as a pharmaceutical), and her baby is born alive due to a botched attempt at a late-term abortion, and then the woman refuses care for the born-alive baby, then she has both acted and refrained from acting and it had an effect on the pregnancy."
If this story seems unreal, she continues, let me assure you that it is already occurring in places like California, as well as other parts of the world.
The Blade a news organization for the LGBTQIA+ community is celebrating. They note, "The Health Care Freedom Act simply prohibits public bodies, including local municipalities, from denying, restricting, or discriminating against an individual’s right to use or refuse reproductive or gender-affirming care."
What they do not say is that the bill, should it become law with the Governor's signature, almost completely eliminates future legislation that would overturn this bill.
Takeaway
Summers concludes:
"Abortion is already legal in New Mexico, essentially up to the moment of birth. It is one of the most radically pro-abortion places on earth because it has no restrictions on abortion at any stage of gestation. This bill is unnecessary unless it is pushing abortion to even more extreme lengths – which it appears it may well be doing, both by undermining religious freedom and conscience protections or even protection for babies born alive after botched abortions."
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.