Welfare of mothers, unborn children before NM Supreme Court

ADF attorneys file brief urging state’s high court to allow Roosevelt County to comply with federal law

SANTA FE, N.M. – In an effort to protect mothers and their unborn children in New Mexico, Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed an answer brief Wednesday on behalf of the Roosevelt County Board of Commissioners with the New Mexico Supreme Court. The brief urges the court to safeguard maternal health and unborn lives by refusing to find a new so-called right to abortion in the state’s constitution and by allowing Roosevelt County to comply with longstanding federal law that prohibits “the shipment of abortion instru­mentalities by mail or common carrier.”

“State and local governments have the strongest possible interest in protecting the most fundamental of our human rights—the right to life—and it’s clear the New Mexico Constitution does not contain a right to take innocent, unborn life,” said ADF Senior Counsel Denise Harle, director of the ADF Center for Life. “We urge the New Mexico Supreme Court to allow Roosevelt County, and other New Mexico localities, to enforce ordinances that comply with federal law and protect the lives of children and mothers.”

Late last year and earlier this year, Roosevelt County and three other New Mexico localities enacted ordinances to comply with federal law and protect the health, welfare, and safety of their citizens. In response, the New Mexico attorney general bypassed ordinary litigation procedures and deployed an exceptional measure, an emergency mandamus petition, when he asked the state’s high court to find a new constitutional right to abortion without the benefit of any court’s prior review.

In February, ADF attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the New Mexico Supreme Court in the case, State of New Mexico v. Board of County Commissioners for Lea County, on behalf of three pro-life organizations: New Mexico Family Action Movement, Right to Life Committee of New Mexico, and New Mexico Alliance for Life. Roosevelt County subsequently retained ADF attorneys to represent the county in the case.

• Pronunciation guide: Harle (HAR’-lee)

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.

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