Abortion surfaces as key issue in Senate races
Possible Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade brings new urgency to repeal N.M. 1969 statute
When Neomi Martinez-Parra was pregnant years ago, she had a medical emergency. After consulting with her doctor and her husband, she decided to have an abortion.
“I would have bled out to death,” said Martinez-Parra, a former Lordsburg special-education teacher who is the Democratic candidate in a key state Senate race. “That decision that we made saved my life.”
Martinez-Parra, who is campaigning to take over Sen. John Arthur Smith’s southwest New Mexico district seat, is drawing on that personal experience in the homestretch of a campaign that has featured abortion as a key issue.
“I don’t like to talk about it, but it’s something I need to talk about,” she said.
Her race isn’t the only one where the issue has surfaced. The state’s half-century-old abortion law is taking center stage across many legislative campaigns in the run-up to the Nov. 3 general election.
It’s a stark example of how issues currently in the national spotlight are being filtered down to state legislative races during an election season marked by a hyperpartisan presidential contest and confirmation hearings for President Donald Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court nominee.
Democrats and women’s rights advocates across the country are concerned that nominee, conservative Judge Amy Coney Barrett, could tip the court toward a potential decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling to legalize abortion.
“With the soon justice-to-be,
it’s put some extra oomph behind it,” said Sen. Linda Lopez, an Albuquerque Democrat who co-sponsored a bill in 2019 to repeal a state law that criminalizes abortion.
The 1969 statute is still on the books. It makes performing an abortion a fourth-degree felony, though the law is unenforceable because of Roe v. Wade.
That would change if the landmark federal decision on abortion is struck down.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham backed a 2019 effort that would have repealed the New Mexico law. The House approved it, but the legislation didn’t get through the Senate when several conservativeleaning Democrats voted it down.
Five of those Democrats lost their primary races in June to more progressive candidates – including Smith’s loss to Martinez-Parra – and abortion proponents believe there’s now an opening to shift the upper chamber enough to the left so a similar bill could pass in the 2021 legislative session, which
begins in January.
Yet all of that depends on the outcome of November’s election, making abortion a key part of campaigns.
“It’s certainly an issue in these races,” said Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe. “The Democrats want to protect women’s ability to make health care decisions with their doctor and not have their government in the middle of that.”
There’s a torrent of energy on the other side of the issue, too. And it can be seen in Martinez-Parra’s District 35 opponent, Republican Crystal Diamond.
The Elephant Butte resident said she “would vote to make abortion illegal in New Mexico,” though she added she would support allowing abortion in cases of rape, incest or where a pregnancy endangers a woman’s life.
Like dozens of candidates, Diamond is endorsed by the New Mexico Right to Life Committee, an affiliate of the anti-abortion National Right to Life Committee.
“Every place I go and I see the candidates, they’re all proudly standing for life,” said Ethel Maharg, the organization’s executive director.
Maharg said she believed prolife candidates in New Mexico were getting “a lot of traction” and would “take back” the state Senate.
“Life’s going to win finally,” she said.
The state Republican Party also held a news conference last week to decry the option for women to obtain so-called late-term abortions, calling on supporters to vote for candidates who will fight against the procedure.
“Where’s the outrage for those who get caught up in late-term abortions?” state party chairman Steve Pearce said.
But pro-choice-focused special-interest groups are not only endorsing candidates. They’re pouring a lot of money into the campaigns.
Planned Parenthood has contributed to a number of Democrats for open Senate seats, including Martinez-Parra, Siah Correa Hemphill, Pam Cordova and Brenda McKenna.
Hemphill and Cordova defeated conservative-leaning Democratic senators in the primary and are now facing Republican challengers, while McKenna is running for the District 9 seat just north of Albuquerque that is being vacated by Sen. John Sapien.
Lopez said she and other lawmakers plan to introduce legislation similar to the 2019 abortion bill in the upcoming 60-day session. She said she believes the victories of progressive Democrats in the primary could make it easier to pass the bill next year.
“Of course, we’ll wait for the outcome of the Nov. 3 election, but my hope is yes,” she said.
The issue also remains a priority for the governor, who said the possibility of the Supreme Court ruling against abortion rights makes it more important to repeal New Mexico’s old law.
“New Mexicans overwhelmingly support the protection of reproductive rights and understand that health care is not a crime,” Lujan Grisham said in a written statement. “I remain optimistic the New Mexico Legislature will act to support that fundamental human right.”
The race between MartinezParra and Diamond likely is the most challenging open Senate seat for Democrats to win, said longtime New Mexico pollster Brian Sanderoff. While outgoing incumbent Smith is a Democrat, he has voted with Republicans on controversial social issues and his rural district is thought to be conservative.
“On paper, the John Arthur Smith seat would be the most vulnerable,” Sanderoff said.
Senate Minority Leader Stuart Ingle expressed confidence Diamond will prevail.
“We’ll win that seat,” said Ingle, R-Portales. “It’s a very conservative district.”
But in what might be an indication of how much the race matters to top Democrats, Martinez-Parra has received financial contributions from many sitting legislators and the governor.
“It’s important to keep the seat blue,” Martinez-Parra said. “They believe in this race, and they believe we can keep it blue and they believe in me.”