Bill to protect abortion access in state passes first chamber
The House of Representatives late Tuesday approved a bill that would prohibit local governments from restricting access to abortion — an issue that dominated last year’s gubernatorial election.
The 38-31 vote on House Bill 7 did not fall strictly along party lines. Six Democrats joined all 25 Republicans in opposing the bill, which now heads to the Senate for consideration.
Rep. Linda Serrato, D-Santa Fe, one of the sponsors of HB 7, said the legislation would ensure providers of abortion and other reproductive health care do not face any “chilling” threats to their profession.
Tuesday’s emotional debate on the bill, which lasted more than three hours, speaks to the ongoing controversy surrounding abortion in the wake of last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning the historic 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat who supports abortion rights and signed a bill in 2021 formally repealing an old law criminalizing the procedure, made abortion access one of the key issues of her 2022 campaign. She announced her plans to codify abortion rights in state statute after winning reelection in November.
Hours before the House vote, Lujan Grisham announced she had joined with 19 other governors in the new Reproductive Freedom Alliance, which aims to fight efforts to restrict abortion access and to expand reproductive rights.
HB 7 aims to protect reproductive and gender-affirming health care, which includes “psychological, behavioral, surgical, pharmaceutical and medical care, services and supplies that relate to the human reproductive system.”
Supporters of the bill say it will prevent discrimination against patients seeking reproductive health services, who might be prone to depression or thoughts of suicide.
Serrato said the bill is about “suicide prevention” for those who feel they have no support when it comes to obtaining certain medical services.
A fiscal impact report for HB 7 says a “very high proportion of LGBTQ persons [have] dysphoric and suicidal thoughts — 54 percent within the past year, according to one study.”
The bill also would ensure counties and cities do not enact laws prohibiting reproductive health care facilities, including those offering abortion services, from opening and operating.
Some New Mexico cities and counties already have passed anti-abortion ordinances citing provisions in federal statutes that prohibit shipping or receiving abortion-inducing drugs and related materials by mail or commercial carrier — measures that would make it difficult to open an abortion facility.
While Tuesday’s debate was sometimes driven by emotion as lawmakers voiced their views, the discussion remained civil and centered on the legal ramifications of HB 7, including the question of whether it would allow minors to seek gender-affirming care or an abortion without parental consent.
Rep. Ryan Lane, R-Aztec, said the Republican Party has a problem with the bill’s provision allowing children under the age of 18 to talk to “trusted” employees at schools and listen to them “over and above the influence of their mom and dad.”
“That, I think, is the heart of why this bill needs to fail tonight,” he said.
Serrato said children are already talking to trusted adults in schools about personal issues, particularly if they are hesitant or afraid to talk to their parents. Nothing in the bill changes current parental notification procedures regarding reproductive care, she added.
“It ensures they are not discriminated against,” she said of children struggling with gender identification issues.
Lane introduced a series of amendments to the bill, one of which would have allowed educators to “opt out” of providing advice to students on the issue because of their own moral objections. None of his amendments was adopted.
Other Republican-led amendment efforts also failed in the House, where Democrats hold a 20-seat advantage.