On Tuesday, Democrats in the New Mexico House of Representatives voted 43-24 for H.B. 31 to allow children under 14 to change their legal name without parental consent or public notice.
“If the court finds that notice to one or more legal parents or legal guardians of a child who is under fourteen years of age will jeopardize the child’s or the applicant’s personal safety, the court shall not require notice,” the bill reads.
The bill, however, does not say what would constitute “jeopardizing” the child’s safety. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos), said during the debate that the entire matter would fall under a judge’s discretion.
Previously, in the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee, Chandler’s expert witness repeatedly told the committee that children under 14 would need parental consent. That turned out to be a lie.
On the House floor, Reps. Stefani Lord (R-Sandia Park), Greg Nibert (R-R0swell), and John Block (R-Alamogordo) made comments decrying the lack of parental consent.
Nibert talked about how he did not support sealing these records and depriving the parents of being able to make decisions for their children. He noted the “unintended consequences” of doing that.
Lord spoke about how this legislation could enable pedophiles and groomers to have easier access to harm children.
Block said, “It concerns me a 14-year-old could change their name without any parental involvement or consent. It’s a very slippery slope we’re going down. It’s bad policy.”
Dems just voted to let 14 year olds change their names without parental consent. 😡 pic.twitter.com/H2IzCteFD7
Supporters of the bill include the Transgender Resource Center for New Mexico, Planned Parenthood of Rocky Mountains, Equality New Mexico, and Bold Futures.
H.B. 31 now heads to the state Senate where it will be considered. If it passed the chamber, it will then head to Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s desk for a signature.
According to the pro-life legal group Abortion On Trial, Curtis Boyd’s Albuquerque late-term abortion mill, Southwestern Women’s Options, is no longer performing late-term abortions, only offering patients abortions throughout 23.6 weeks.
Boyd, a former Baptist minister, left the church to commit abortions at a back-alley abortion mill in Athens, Texas.
According to reporting by Life News, “Before Roe v. Wade in 1973, the Supreme Court Decision that decriminalized abortion in the United States, Boyd was aborting children by the hundreds. Though illegal, Boyd felt that performing abortions was more important than abiding by the law of the land. When word got out about his chop shop, he was forced out of Athens and reopened in Dallas, where he continued to rally support for ‘abortion rights.’”
Boyd said, “Am I killing? Yes, I am. I know that.”
In total, he has personally killed 250,000 children in the womb, according to attorneys who have interviewed him. Throughout his abortion mills, he has committed over 700,000 abortions, or around one percent of all babies aborted since Roe. He is the single biggest abortionist in history.
Previously, Boyd’s website reflected that he aborted babies “through 32 weeks – Late Term Abortions After 32 Weeks on a Case by Case Basis.”
Now, Boyd no longer performs the deadly late-term abortion practice, although he continues to kill babies through his abortion centers.
Abortion On Trial reported on Twitter Monday, “We’ve confirmed via scheduling attempts that Curtis Boyd’s infamous SWO abortion facility in Albuquerque is no longer providing late term induction abortion and is now referring out of state.”
Recently, multiple ambulances have been spotted leaving Boyd’s abortion center with patients who had apparently botched procedures. It is not immediately clear if the ending of the late-term practice at his abortion mill is due to unsafe late-term abortions.
The news comes as New Mexico considers radical anti-life legislation with H.B. 7, which would force New Mexico public bodies and employees to aid in abortions and “gender-affirming care.” This comes two years after the legislature legalized unlimited abortion up to birth while stripping all protections for women, medical professionals, and babies in the womb.
On Monday, multiple anti-gun bills will be heard in New Mexico legislative committees, with Second Amendment-supportive groups urging the public to take action and testify in committee hearings.
New Mexico Shooting Sports Association (NMSSA) writes, “First, HB9, the firearm owner liability and mandatory storage bill will be heard in the House Judiciary Committee starting at 1:30pm in Room 309 (Zoom Link). The bill will impose criminal penalties on gun owners if a third-party minor uses their firearm to commit a crime or injure someone.”
H.B. 9 previously passed the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee on a 4-2 vote, with Republican Reps. Stefani Lord (R-Sandia Park) and John Block (Alamogordo) opposing the measure after a lengthy question and answer session with the sponsor, Rep. Pamelya Herndon (D-Bernalillo).
“Second, SB116, the proposed ban on anyone under 21 from purchasing or owning a semiautomatic firearm will be heard in the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee starting at 1:30pm in Room 311 (Zoom Link). Below is the contact info for members of both committees. NMSSA is opposed to both bills.”
NMSSA adds, “Another bill we are watching was filed today. HB224 would make it illegal to carry a firearm while drunk or high in a city of more than 90,000 people – yes that is really in the bill. But more importantly, it would make it a crime to shoot a gun within 150 yards of a building without the permission of the building’s owner. The bill would shut down all indoor shooting ranges, and some outdoor ranges in our state as well. Acts of self-defense would not be exempt either.”
The group urges New Mexicans to contact legislators, who can be reached below:
On Friday, it was announced that Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s New Mexico Human Services Secretary, David Scrase, M.D., was stepping down from his post, one of the few cabinet members who has lasted throughout the governor’s reign beginning in 2019.
In a statement, Scrase said, “It has been an incredible honor to work for the Governor for the past four years.”
“I am proud of all that we have accomplished together,” he wrote, touting his response to COVID-19. He added, “I feel extremely privileged and cherish the four years working with the outstanding leaders and employees at HSD. Likewise, the several years that I spent with the Department of Health and their amazing leaders and staff was another high point in my life.”
“In addition to the support and encouragement that I have received from both departments, I have received continual and strong support from members of the Legislature as well, and for that I am very grateful. I have made many lifelong friends and will take wonderful memories into my retirement — And, of course, I could not possibly have endured the challenges of the past four years without the support of my wife Chantel and my family. I am deeply grateful for everyone with whom I have crossed paths during this time.”
During the pandemic, Scrase refused to lift lockdown orders and insisted New Mexicans must take the coronavirus vaccine. He also worked to keep the state’s indoor mask mandates in place.
In 2021, Scrase said restrictive mask mandates and lockdowns could last for years into the future.
On Friday, it was revealed that the Rio Grande Foundation, in partnership with the Liberty Justice Center, is suing the City of Albuquerque over its $250,000 donation to the abortion giant Planned Parenthood.
The Albuquerque City Council in August 2022 voted 5-4 to fund the abortion giant, claiming it was giving Planned Parenthood the money for supposedly necessary abortion procedures, including abortions.
“New Mexico’s constitution prevents politicians from using taxpayer funds like their own personal piggy banks,” says Daniel Suhr, managing attorney at the Liberty Justice Center. “Albuquerque’s grant to Planned Parenthood is pure politics, and the state constitution prevents that kind of abuse of taxpayer dollars.”
“Taxpayers should not be compelled to subsidize Planned Parenthood or any other private group,” said Gessing, who is president of the free-market Rio Grande Foundation. “The anti-donation clause of New Mexico’s constitution is a bulwark for taxpayers against politically motivated earmarks just like this one.”
73% of Americans, including pro-choice individuals, women, and millennials, oppose mandated taxpayer funding of abortions, according to a recent Marist/Knights of Columbus poll.
In a previous op-ed from New Mexico Sun, City Councilor Renee Grout wrote, “This is not a simple disagreement on a political issue. For many people, abortion is sanctioned murder. It is wasteful and wrong to give $250,000 of taxpayer money to a business that makes $1.3 billion every year advocating for and performing this procedure.”
Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn, the sponsor of the $250,000 blank check to Planned Parenthood, was annoyed that the Council was revisiting the vote, saying, “Now is not the time to roll back something that we literally passed two months ago.”
On Monday, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) revealed that Solomon Peña, a former GOP candidate for state House of Representatives District 14 was arrested at his Albuquerque home. He is charged with conspiracy to pay four men to shoot at Democrat lawmakers’ homes.
As we previously reported, the politicians who were apparently targeted included outgoing Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie O’Malley, Commissioner Adriann Barboa, and two legislators. Sen. Linda Lopez and newly appointed Sen. Antonio “Moe” Maestas were apparently targeted, although gunshots were heard near Maestas’ office, not his home.
Later, Democrat New Mexico House Majority Leader Javier Martínez (D-Bernalillo) reported he found gun holes and bullet remnants at his Albuquerque home.
APD Chief Harold Medina told the Albuquerque Journal, “Peña, an unsuccessful legislative candidate in the 2022 election, is accused of conspiring with, and paying four other men to shoot at the homes of two county commissioners and two state legislators.”
Police officers executing the arrest said outside of Pena’s home, “Solomon Peña please come out with your hands up, we have the place surrounded.”
The suspect prevously served seven years in prison for involvement in a “slash and grab” robbery “scheme,” the Journalnoted.
Immediately following the revelation of Peña’s arrest, House Republican Leader Ryan Lane (R-Aztec) wrote in a statement, “We appreciate law enforcement’s diligence in pursuing this investigation and we are still learning of this development just as the rest of New Mexico is. New Mexico House Republicans condemn violence in any form and are grateful no one was injured. This is yet another example of a convicted felon unlawfully gaining access to firearms, which they are barred from owning or possessing, and using the weapon in a manner that causes public harm.”
Democrat state Rep. Liz Thomson (D-Bernalillo) just dropped a bill she will be carrying in the 2023 Legislative Session, H.B. 42, to create a new “public health and climate resiliency fund” to “assist local communities in preparing for and responding to public health emergencies related to climate change and extreme weather.”
The bill would enact a myriad of enviro-Marxist responsibilities of the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH), such as to “facilitate meaningful community engagement within communities most harmed, or determined by climate science as most likely to be harmed, by extreme weather events.”
It would also give the department the ability to give “grants” of up to $250,000 to “a political subdivision of the state or an Indian nation, tribe or pueblo for the purposes of preparing for and responding to public health emergencies related to extreme weather and other climate impacts.”
The grants would emphasize seizing as much private land as possible to make it government-owned, which mimics Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s “30 by 30” program to force at least 30 percent of public land into public “conservation” by the year 2030.
The bill reads that the priority will be “emphasize planning, projects and activities that are also eligible for grant funds from federal programs or help New Mexico become eligible for federal funds,” along with “climate adaptation plans,” among other requirements.
The appropriation attached to the bill would be $1.1 million from the General Fund to NMDOH throughout 2024 and $5 million throughout 2028. It would cost taxpayers a grand total of at least $6.1 million to enact this enviro-Marxist program that likely has nothing to do with health care nor would do anything to stop so-called “extreme weather.”
Another bill, H.B. 45, by state Rep. Matthew McQueen (D-Santa Fe) would create a fund to pay for the “acquisitions of land, conservation and agricultural easements and other interests in land and by funding land restoration to protect the land and water available for forests and watersheds, natural areas, wildlife and wildlife habitat, agricultural production on working farms and ranches, outdoor recreation and trails and land and habitat restoration and management.”
The 2023 Legislative Session starts at noon on January 17, 2023.
In his latest move, Democrat U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich is once again attacking his most fierce nemesis — the gas stove. You read that right. While New Mexicans struggle to heat their homes and feed their families, Heinrich is passionately joining a crusade of enviro-Marxists working to ban gas stoves. About 35 percent of Americans have gas stoves, according to the Census Bureau. Heinrich wants to make that zero percent.
In a December 22 tweet, Heinrich wrote, “Many people are unaware of the high level of dangerous indoor air pollutants emitted by gas stoves. That’s why I joined @SenBooker and a number of our colleagues in urging the Consumer Product Safety Commission to help protect Americans from these hazards.”
In an attached letter to the tweet, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) write, “In addition to the climate impacts, these emissions represent real health risks to millions of Americans. Both NO2 and PM2.5 are known to exacerbate respiratory conditions. Short-term exposure to NO2 is linked to worsening asthma in children, and long-term exposure has been determined to likely cause the development of asthma. Both pollutants have also been linked to cardiovascular impacts and a range of other adverse health issues. Even low-level CO exposure can exacerbate cardiovascular illness among people with coronary heart disease and other vulnerable populations.”
Leave my fkn stove alone you criminal. How about lowering food and gas pricrs instead. Idiots all of you.
The lawmakers, including Heinrich, demand the following measures be taken to limit gas stoves:
• Require gas stoves to be sold with range hoods that meet mandatory performance standards, assessing their efficiency of removing the pollutants,
• Where feasible, issue mandatory performance standards for gas stoves that address steady-state-off leakage, including requiring automatic shut-off valves,
• Where feasible, issue mandatory performance standards for gas stoves that address the health impacts of hazardous emissions,
• Require labels on gas stoves that educate consumers about their exposure risks,
• Launch a public education campaign on the health risks of cooking with a gas stove, and steps that consumers can take to minimize their risk.
Previously, Heinrich made a big stink about gas stoves, claiming using one was comparable to letting one’s babysitter smoke around a child.
It’s unclear what Heinrich’s obsession with banning gas stoves is all about, but Heinrich has been on this tear for years.
In July of 2021, Heinrich wrote on Twitter, “When you trade out your gas stove for an electric one you lower your monthly energy bills, create jobs, and move us closer to a zero-emissions future. And a bill I’ll be introducing would give you money back for doing that. This is how we build a clean energy powered economy.”
Heinrich previously bragged on social media about supposedly electrifying his home, sharing a video of him installing a new heat pump to supposedly save the planet.
During the last day of the partisan Nancy Pelosi-sanctioned January 6 committee hearing, the committee’s members referred 45th President Donald J. Trump, among others, including his former lawyer John Eastman, for prosecution. Eastman lives in Santa Fe and has been constantly harassed by far-left protesters outside of his residence for months.
“We believe that the evidence described by my colleagues today … warrants a criminal referral of former President Donald J. Trump, John Eastman, and others,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland).
The sham committee referred Trump for prosecution on the following counts:
Obstruction of an official proceeding;
Conspiracy to defraud the United States;
Conspiracy to make a false statement; and
Conspiracy to defraud the U.S. by assisting, aiding or comforting those involved in an insurrection
Eastman faces the same referral on alleged “Obstruction of an official proceeding.” Legally, on January 6th, no such “insurrection” took place. There was no such conspiracy to defraud the country nor false statements made before the partisan committee.
Eastman’s legal representatives at Burnham & Gorokhov, PLLC wrote following the news, “A criminal ‘referral’ from a congressional committee is not binding on the Department of Justice and carries no more legal weight than a ‘referral’ from any American citizen,” adding, “In fact, a ‘referral’ from the January 6th committee should carry a great deal less weight due to the absurdly partisan nature of the process that produced it.”
“At its inception, the January 6th committee had the resources and mandate to make important contributions in the area of Capitol Security, Electoral Count Act Reform and other areas of potential legislation. Sadly, this opportunity has been squandered in favor of concocting a pretend ‘criminal case’ from pretend prosecutors designed to create political advantage for the Democratic Party and stigmatize disfavored political groups. The American people have been ill-served by the January 6th committee and its members,” the firm continued.
According to the Albuquerque Journal, “A 154-page executive summary to the committee’s full investigation was released Monday. The summary mentions Eastman 166 times.”
Criminal charges are not mandatory of the Department of Justice and are at the discretion of special counsel Jack Smith.
Editor’s Note: Mr. Eastman is a donor to Piñon Post editor and founder Rep.-elect John Block’s campaign for state House District 51.
A desperate smear campaign by a disgraced convicted felon and leftist Alamogordo-based blogger Chris Edwards ended in defeat after a frivilous ethics complaint filed by his partner, Rene Sepulveda, was dismissed by the full State Ethics Commission. The complaint targeted Republican officials in Alamogordo, including Otero County GOP Chairman Josh Beasley, Republican State Representative-elect John Block, and Alamogordo City Commissioner Karl Melton.
Edwards, a convicted felon and twice-failed candidate for Napa City Council in California, runs the blog “2nd Life Media,” which is now attempting to brand itself as conservative with the label of “Alamogordo Conserative Daily,” spewing similar leftist talking points and attacks on conservatives. During his failed political career, he was accused of “dirty politics” for misleading elderly voters during candidate forums. The frivolous complaint appears to be yet another Napa Valley-style political smear.
Sepulveda’s panicky eleventh-hour October 31, 2022 complaint, spanning 13 rambling pages, alleged there was a “consorted attack” by the three Republicans against pro-abortion radicals who attempted unsuccessfully to overturn Alamogordo’s sanctuary for the unborn ordinance passed in August.
The conspiracy theorist’s complainant claimed the supposed attack, which never happened, was “orchestrated” by Melton and Block “via social media posts, a whisper campaign, and facilitated directly by the two individuals, and with their prodding of their supporters and the chairman of the Otero County Republican party, Joshua Beasley, rallied to their cause.”
Hilariously, even in Sepulveda’s complaint, it acknowledged that Block, the founder and editor of the state’s largest online news publication, the Piñon Post, had factually reported on the petition. Still, he claimed Rep.-elect Block instituted the use of “malinformation.” No evidence was given.
The complaint then repeats a debunked conspiracy theory alleging Rep.-elect Block sent an unsigned piece of mail to those associated with Edwards sharing his federal indictment while claiming mail fraud. This false claim came despite Edwards being convicted of mail fraud previously and serving in federal prison for his crimes after defrauding 1-800 Flowers of nearly $1 million in an embezzlement and tax evasion scheme.
“Mr. Block directly mailed it or a member of the conspiracy did it on his behalf the fact remains an addition [sic] act of mail fraud was conducted having the return address of Mr. Edwards business on it,” claimed Sepuveda’s dismissed complaint, which provided no evidence.
Then, the letter adds defamatory accusations, erroneously claiming Rep.-elect Block and Commissioner Melton “conspired, instigated, and engaged in activities and actions of ‘voter intimidation and harassment,’” and “disqualify” the convicted felon from voting. It also claimed supposed “attempted economic intimidation” by printing news about Edwards’ illicit activities, of which he has repeatedly been convicted.
Previously, Edwards has doxxed Rep.-elect Block by publishing in his blog the conservative’s home address, email address, and phone number. He has done this on previous occasions against citizens who requested the pro-life sanctuary city resolution.
In conclusion, the failed smear tactic demanded the State Ethics Commission, which has no jurisdiction in the matter, grant a “cease and desist” against Rep.-elect Block from printing the truth about Edwards as well as a “retraction of the stories and an admission to intimidation tactics.” It also demanded a “cease and desist in attempts at voter intimidation and voter suppression and an admission of tactics not becoming of party leadership or those of elected office,” all of which have been unproven or destroyed.
The State Ethics Commission saw through the unhinged ramblings of Sepulveda and Edwards, with members of the Commission writing in response, “The claims that Complainant (Rene Sepulveda), filed against Respondents (John Block, Karl Melton, and Joshua Beasley), in administrative complaint No. 2022-041 are dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. See 1.8.3.l0(F) NMAC; Jurisdictional determination (Nov. 9, 2022). This administrative proceeding is closed, and the Commission will not disclose records relating to this proceeding.”
Yet again, Edwards’ cowardly attacks on Alamogordo conservatives have failed, leaving the far-left California transplant with egg on his face following not only a failed petition drive to strip the City of its pro-life resolution but now a blow from the State Ethics Commission.
Read more about far-left Edwards’ failed smears against Otero County conservatives here:
