Despite some individuals attacking legal efforts for sanctuary cities for the unborn measures in New Mexico counties and municipalities by claiming they would create a constitutional right to abortion, the state Supreme Court today made very clear it would not make that determination in a lawsuit on the matter.
The ordinances were crafted using the federal Comstock Act, which prohibits the mailing of abortion-related materials, which would include the unsafe medication abortion pills.
Although the Court struck down these ordinances, it did write, “It is an enduring principle of constitutional jurisprudence that courts will avoid deciding constitutional questions unless required to do so,” adding, “Our forbearance of the constitutional questions, however, should not be construed as commentary on their merit. Rather, we heed the canon of constitutional avoidance and refrain from deciding constitutional issues unnecessary to the disposition of this case.”
During the case, Attorney General Raúl Torrez’s office argued that the ordinances violated the New Mexico Constitution’s Equal Rights Amendment, but the New Mexico Supreme Court declined that argument, writing, “We therefore decline to reach the State’s additional arguments under the New Mexico Constitution.”
The Court concluded, “We hold the Ordinances are preempted in their entirety based on the independent and adequate state law grounds provided in the Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Health Care Freedom Act, the Medical Practice Act, the Medical Malpractice Act, and the Health Care Code, as well as the Uniform Licensing Act.”
Now, the New Mexico Supreme Court, by ruling on the matter, has paved the way for the case to be taken to the U.S. Supreme Court. If the highest court in the land disagrees with the New Mexico Supreme Court that the Health Care Freedom Act explicitly preempts local regulations that interfere with access to reproductive health care, it could mean enforcement of a prohibition on trafficking abortion medications through the mail.
Attorney Jonathan Mitchell, who spearheaded these ordinances and worked on the litigation, wrote following the ruling, “We are thrilled with the New Mexico Supreme Court’s ruling.”
He added, “This is the first court to hold that an ordinance requiring compliance with the federal Comstock Act prohibits the shipment and receipt of abortion-related paraphernalia in states where abortion remains legal. We look forward to litigating these issues in other states and bringing the meaning of the federal Comstock Act to the Supreme Court of the United States.”
Nations are aborted for infant sacrifice.