Commissioners in the town of Edgewood voted 4-1 to pass an anti-abortion ordinance in defiance of a new state law that makes the local ordinance illegal.
The commissioners who voted for the pro-life agenda used the 1873 Comstock Act to make their case, a KOAT report said this week. The law, which had not been enforced in decades until recently, prohibits the mailing of contraceptives, “lewd” writings, and any “instrument, substance, drug, medicine or thing” that could be used in an abortion.
Edgewood Commissioner Filandro Anaya disagreed with his fellow commissioners.
"This is an issue that's between the state and the federal government,” he told KOAT. “It's not between us. What we do in the local government, basically, our job is to build the infrastructure bill, build a safe community for the people, the residents, of its boundaries. I don't believe we need to go back to the Stone Age.
"It is law. So, we should not be dealing with the Comstock Act or anything like that on the federal level because we took an oath to defend the constitution of the state of New Mexico. It's illegal for us to break laws that are already on the books. It's a huge problem. It's a financial disaster, if we went through this, because for one, I personally could be sued."
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed House Bill 7 during the 2023 legislative session. The bill prevents a jurisdiction from restricting, denying or interfering with a person's ability to access or provide reproductive health care. It goes into effect on June 16.
"In New Mexico, there's a new state law that takes effect in June prohibiting local jurisdictions, counties, cities from passing any law that would restrict a woman's right to abortion and or services," KOAT legal analyst John Day said. "If Edgewood or any other city or town passes any kind of law that conflicts with the new state law, obviously the state law would control in the eyes of a court."
In March 2023, the New Mexico Supreme Court blocked local anti-abortion ordinances, following a request from New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez.
"This is not Texas," Torrez said in the KOAT report. "In this state, a woman's right to choose is guaranteed by the New Mexico constitution. In the last several months, Roosevelt County, Lea County, the city of Hobbs, and Clovis have passed ordinances seeking to regulate the provision of health care services, specifically the ability of women in those communities to seek and access reproductive health care."
This year, Democratic governors in 20 states launched a network intended to strengthen abortion access in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. The decision shifted regulatory powers over abortion to state governments.
In 2021, the Democratic-led New Mexico Legislature repealed a dormant 1969 statute that outlawed most abortion procedures as felonies, ensuring access to abortion even after the federal court rolled back guarantees. The governor also signed a series of executive orders that, among other things, barred state cooperation with other states that might interfere with abortion access.