ALBUQUERQUE, NM—Today, an alliance of community organizations and women’s advocacy groups launched “Respect ABQ Women,” a campaign to defeat the anti-abortion ballot measure that will likely appear on the Albuquerque ballot this fall. The Respect ABQ Women campaign understands that the anti-abortion ballot measure is part of a national effort aimed at making it impossible for New Mexico women, and women across the country, to access safe and legal abortions.

"As women of New Mexico we are proud of our state's history of respecting women to make real-life decisions about their lives in the best interest of their families,” said Adriann Barboa, Field Director for Strong Families New Mexico. “We launch this campaign today, representing people from all backgrounds and from all corners of our city, to ensure that Albuquerque continues to respect the personal decisions of women."

“The government needs to stay out of people’s private doctor-patient relationships,” said Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld of Congregation Albert, who also spoke against the ballot measure at the Respect ABQ Women campaign launch. “The extremely personal decision to end a pregnancy should only be between a woman, her doctor, her conscience, and her family should she choose to involve them.”

The Respect ABQ Women campaign aims to:

• Educate voters on how bans on abortion interfere with deeply personal medical decisions that belong only between a woman, her doctor, and her faith.
• Promote respect and trust for women and their ability to make decisions that affect their lives and bodies.
• Mobilize New Mexicans to stand with women and defeat attempts by out-of-touch groups to interfere in private doctor-pati ent relationships.

As part of the campaign, Respect ABQ Women launched a website, www.respectabqwomen.org, where people can learn more about the issue, sign a pledge to oppose the ban, volunteer with the campaign, and make a donation toward defeating the ballot measure. Respect ABQ Women is also reaching out to the communities that would be affected by this anti-abortion measure via Facebook and Twitter.
 

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ALBUQUERQUE, NM—Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico denounced the proposed Albuquerque ballot measure that seeks to prevent women from accessing a safe and legal abortion beyond 20 weeks of pregnancy.

 “The extremely personal decision whether to have a safe, legal abortion belongs between a woman and her doctor,” said ACLU-NM Staff Attorney Alexandra Freedman Smith. “This organized effort is all about ignoring the personal circumstances of women and putting the government in the exam room where it doesn’t belong.”

The ballot measure, if certified, would place an item on the 2013 city election ballot that would ban abortions in Albuquerque performed after 20 weeks. The law would provide no exceptions in the case of rape, incest, or severe fetal anomaly. The organizers of the ballot measure work closely with Operation Rescue, an out-of-state organization with a history of harassing women and health care providers.

“We agree with the Albuquerque city attorney that this proposal is an unconstitutional violation of women's privacy,” said Smith. “The decision to end a pregnancy is an extremely complex one for women and their families. The government should not be involved.”

If the ballot measure were to pass, the ACLU of New Mexico would file a legal challenge to have it stricken from the law. The initiative is in clear violation of the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, and would likely be struck down by the courts.

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By now, you may have heard the news that an out-of-state group is gathering signatures for an anti-abortion ballot measure in Albuquerque. If they succeed in gathering the required number of signatures, the question will appear on the ballot this fall and put women's health services at risk.
Stand with thousands of other New Mexicans to fight this attempt to interfere in a woman's private medical decisions.
Government and politicians should not intrude on difficult, personal decisions, such as abortion, or whether and when to have children. These decisions should be made between a woman, her family, and her doctor, not by government or politicians.
We've been tracking this effort to interfere in women's private medical decisions since before the news broke in the press. The ACLU of New Mexico, along with a diverse coalition of community groups and women's organizations, has a plan to fight this initiative at the ballot box and in the courts if necessary.
These Texas-style anti-abortion laws don't belong in New Mexico. Pledge to keep private medical decisions between a woman and her doctor.