AG Torrez attempts to halt Eunice’s lawsuit over pro-abortion state law
On Tuesday, it was reported that Democrat New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez is attempting to halt Eunice’s lawsuit against the AG and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham over the passage of H.B. 7, a newly passed 2023 state law attempting to usurp authority from federal law upheld in the federal Comstock Act.
KRQE News reports, “The idea behind the latest filing is to try to get the district court to put the lawsuit on hold while the state’s Supreme Court makes a decision on a similar case. At the heart of the debate is whether or not individual cities are allowed to set local ordinances that might contradict state laws.”
“Eunice, New Mexico, is arguing that federal law trumps state law and makes it illegal to ship or receive abortion medication. The city has also pointed out that ‘the city’s ordinance does not outlaw or prohibit abortion.’”
The AG, “The City of Eunice enacted an ordinance purporting to enforce a federal law governing the sending of abortion-related materials through the mail or by common carrier. In its Complaint, the City seeks a declaratory judgment that House Bill 7 is contrary to and preempted by federal law. The City also seeks a declaratory judgment on what constitutes “the medical standard of care” under House Bill 7 in relation to the federal law.”
“In this case, the interests of justice favor staying the matter pending resolution of the petition for writ of mandamus in the Supreme Court. Indeed, in the context at hand, when a stay implicates the New Mexico Supreme Court’s primacy as the state court of last resort to rule on a novel issue impacting the whole state simultaneously pending in the lower courts, the imposition of a brief stay is warranted. Judicial economy also favors staying the matter,” he claims.
Michael J. Seibel, the attorney representing the City of Eunice, says the City opposes Torrez’s request.
“We don’t think that the Supreme Court is addressing the issue that we have raised in the Eunice lawsuit,” Seibel told KRQE News 13
Sebel told the Piñon Post, “The Attorney General is trying to avoid the Comstock Act decision,” adding, “The Comstock Act is the law of the land, and it preempts state law.”
“If they don’t like the Comstock Act, then change it, but that’s the law right now. And until the law is changed, laws must be enforced.”