On Friday, the far-left George Soros-funded group ProgressNow New Mexico (PNNM) gleefully celebrated an extremist law, S.B. 13, taking effect.
S.B. 13, signed by Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, will harbor criminal abortionists in New Mexico who are wanted for extradition to other states.
Section 4 of the legislation reads, “It shall be a violation of the Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Health Care Protection Act to request from a third party, or for a third party to transmit information related to an individual’s or entity’s protected health care activity with the intent to: . . . (6) deter, prevent, sanction or penalize an individual or entity for engaging in a protected health care activity.”
Section 9 of the bill expressly exempts from extradition criminal fugitives who commit or conspire to commit illegal abortions, so long as the perpetrator remains in New Mexico during the commission of the crimes.
PNNM hailed the extreme law, writing, “SB13 Protects information of New Mexico abortion and gender-affirming care providers, seekers and helpers. This includes protecting New Mexican’s health care information, health care providers’ licenses, prohibiting extradition for the provision of in-state abortion and gender-affirming care, and preventing the state from cooperating with out-of-state investigations.”
On Twitter, the extremist group wrote, “Oh Happy Day,” sharing what they like about the new law.
The Baltimore-based nonprofit, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, recently released its annual “The Kids Count” report. The report examines data across 16 total indicators in four broad categories: education, health, economic well-being, and family and community. New Mexico was once again ranked last overall. The data is derived from the years 2021 to 2022.
The state ranked 49th in economic well-being, with 24 percent of children in poverty — a mere once percent change from last year’s 25 percent.
35 percent of New Mexico children’s parents lack secure employment, an increase of three percent from the last year at 32 percent.
Children living in households with a high-cost burden remained the same at 26 percent, but still very high.
Teens not in school and not working shot up one percent to 12 percent from last year’s 11 percent.
In the category of education, New Mexico ranked 50th, with 59 percent of children ages three and four not in school (the same percentage as last year), 79 percent of fourth-graders not proficient in reading (up from last year’s 76 percent), 87 percent of eighth-graders not proficient in math (up from 79 percent last year), and 23 percent of high school students not graduating on time, a slight improvement from 25 percent previously.
New Mexico ranked 44th in health, with 9.4 percent low birth weight in newborns, slightly up from the previous 9.3 percent, six percent of children without health insurance (the same figure from last year), 43 teen deaths per 100,000 (up from 36 previously), and 36 percent of teens ages 10 to 17 who are overweight or obese (up from the previous 32 percent).
In the family and community category, 44 percent of children in New Mexico live in single-parent households (the same as before), 12 percent of children live in households that lack a high school diploma (slightly better than the previous 14 percent), 19 percent of children living in high-poverty areas (up from 22 percent), and 19 teen births per 1,000 (down from 42 previously).
A leftist columnist, Walt Rubel, the opinion page editor for the Las Cruces Sun-News, wrote a recent op-ed supporting organizers collecting petitions for a referendum vote on laws passed in the 2023 Legislative Session.
He wrote regarding the failure to get 2014 a wage-related bill on the ballot in Las Cruces that it “relied on slimy legal tricks” to stymie the effort.
Regarding the current referendum drive by conservative groups, he opined, “Unfortunately, Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver has greeted this effort of citizen involvement with the same obstructionist mindset as our former City Council. More specifically, she has decided that one of the new laws can never be repealed, regardless of how many citizens support it.”
“Toulouse Oliver is arguing that the bill can never be overturned by the citizens because it falls into a protected class of legislation necessary for the ‘preservation of the public peace, health or safety’ of the state. That seems like an enormous stretch. Does anybody believe the peace, health and safety of residents in Hobbs or Carlsbad will be endangered if they don’t have an abortion clinic? I suspect the opposite is true. Any facilities in those towns would surely draw protesters.”
He added the caveat, “To be clear, I don’t agree with the proposed referendum, and would vote against it if given the chance. I’m just saying I should have that chance, if the referendum organizers collect the necessary number of petitions.”
“Toulouse Oliver said if any of those efforts are successful, they will be thrown out as well, because referendum organizers have not followed the proper procedure to begin a petition process. She may be right. But this sure looks like a Democratic secretary of state doing everything possible to thwart an effort by her political opponents. And I’m not sure why. I don’t think any of these five proposed referendums would pass if put to the voters. But lawmakers simply can’t stand to have their decrees challenged by the unwashed masses.”
Legendary author of “Blood Meridian,” “The Road” and “All the Pretty Horses,” Cormac McCarthy, passed away on Tuesday at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, at the age of 89.
The famed American author died of natural causes, according to his publisher, Penguin Random House.
“Cormac McCarthy changed the course of literature,” Nihar Malaviya, the CEO of Penguin Random House, said in a statement.
“For sixty years, he demonstrated an unwavering dedication to his craft, and to exploring the infinite possibilities and power of the written word,” Malaviya said. “Millions of readers around the world embraced his characters, his mythic themes, and the intimate emotional truths he laid bare on every page, in brilliant novels that will remain both timely and timeless, for generations to come.”
McCarthy won a Pulitzer Prize for “The Road,” as well as the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award.
“McCarthy’s style and thematic preoccupations drew from disparate influences, ranging from the haunting Southern Gothic prose of William Faulkner to the lyrical intricacy of James Joyce and the fire-and-brimstone intensity of Scripture,” wrote NBC News.
His 1985 masterpiece “Blood Meridian,” which is a horrifically violent epic about bloodthirsty bounty hunters, is considered by many to be his crowning achievement.
Other books he wrote, such as “No Country for Old Men,” 2005, gained acclaim after its initial release.
The film adaptation of the book directed by the Cohen Brothers won four Academy Awards, including best picture. “Death is the major issue in the world. For you, for me, for all of us,” he said during an interview with Vanity Fair. “It just is. To not be able to talk about it is very odd.”
An event celebrating the crushing of Native American sovereignty via a 20-year drilling ban around Chaco Canyon by Joe Biden’s Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Deb Haaland, a former New Mexico congresswoman, was thwarted by Navajo protesters, primarily made up of landowners.
“Haaland had to quickly regroup and relocate after a group of Navajo landowners blocked the way to the sacred site,” KOB 4 reported.
Opponents and supporters of the buffer zone around Chaco Canyon clashed today after Navajo allottees blockaded the road to the park in preparation for Interior Secretary Deb Haaland's planned visit. The allottee protestors did not let cars into the park. pic.twitter.com/ZCnxA02bBv
“Six and a half hours later, over 150 miles away, those celebrating the moratorium gathered outside of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Southwest Regional Office in Albuquerque in the late afternoon instead, surrounded by federal police officers on the outskirts of the area,” another source said.
Today, we gathered with Tribal leaders from New Mexico Pueblos and the Navajo Nation to honor the sacred, shared Chaco Canyon landscape. pic.twitter.com/ppI059IXom
— Secretary Deb Haaland (@SecDebHaaland) June 12, 2023
The Santa Fe New Mexicanreported, “Social media posts showed protesters yelling ‘Go Home!’ as some held signs that read no trespassing on allottee land.”
Other signs spotted listed Haaland, Biden, and other politicians who lauded the decision as “China and Russia oil lovers.”
The Navajo Nation pled with the DOI to make a compromise, but they were flatly ignored by Haaland, leading them to rescind their support for the compromise and to oppose the drilling ban that will mean hundreds of millions of dollars being robbed from the tribe over time.
The Navajo Nation Council wrote in opposition to the proposed ban, “If the buffer zone is adopted, the Navajo allottees who rely on the income realized from oil and natural gas royalties will be pushed into greater poverty.” It stressed the “detrimental impact to Navajo Nation allottees by preventing the development of new oil and gas resources on allotments as a result of the allotments being landlocked,” exposing the fallacy from DOI that the withdrawal will not impact Navajo lands.
“The financial and economic losses that are impacting many Navajo families as a result of the secretary’s recent land withdrawal are nothing to celebrate,” Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said. “As leaders of the Navajo Nation, we support the Navajo allottees who oppose the withdrawal of these public lands.”
On Saturday, Democrat New Mexico politicians frolicked through New Mexico’s largest city to promote “LGBT Pride,” which has been pushed in recent years to force gender ideology, primarily transgender ideology, on families and children.
Democrat Sen. Martin Heinrich made a rare appearance at the parade, which is uncommon for the lawmaker who rarely visits the state. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.
“Happy Pride!” he wrote, adding, “No better way to celebrate than back home with @NMDEMS and @ABQ_Pride!”
Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-CD-01) wrote a “Happy Pride” greeting from her official account, while on her campaign Twitter profile, she appeared to be attending “Pride” in Washington, D.C.
Albuquerque’s Democrat Mayor Tim Keller also posted a “Pride” greeting, writing, “Can always count on ABQ to show up and show out for #Pride! Here in our city, we choose love over hate. We uplift one another, and we’re committed to supporting and celebrating our incredible LGBTQ+ community.”
Can always count on ABQ to show up and show out for #Pride!
Here in our city, we choose love over hate. We uplift one another, and we’re committed to supporting and celebrating our incredible LGBTQ+ community. #OneAlbuquerquepic.twitter.com/yBgB6FF1Rb
Like in other posts, young children could be seen wearing “Pride” gear in Keller’s tweet.
Other politicians showed up to the parade, including appointed Democrat Albuquerque-area District Attorney Sam Bregman, who posted about the event from the official District Attorney’s account:
It was an honor to join All Faiths Children's Advocacy Center for this year's ABQ Pride Parade. It was amazing to see how much love and support there is for the LGBTQIA+ community.
In recent weeks, Americans have been massively boycotting Target after it was caught pushing the LGBT agenda on kids as young as toddler age by selling inappropriate products targeted toward children.
According to The Daily Mail, “This year’s collection features a range of clothes and home goods, including lime green adult romper suits with the word ‘gay’ on the back; a ‘Live Laugh Lesbian’ t-shirt; and a mug emblazoned with the words: ‘Gender Fluid.’”
“The Minneapolis-based company is selling T-shirts for children with the slogan: ‘Trans People Will Always Exist!’ It is offering rainbow-striped tutus for toddlers for $13, and $10 baby gros which read: ‘Bien Proud.’”
Now, an Albuquerque Uptown Target store finds itself in the midst of the woke controversy.
According to a report from KRQE 13 News, “A woman says an Albuquerque Target refused to sell her a pride shirt for her granddaughter, even though it was out on display. Jessica Corley headed to Target in Uptown to buy shirts for her family to wear to Albuquerque’s Pride Parade. She found matching shirts for herself and her three-year-old granddaughter that said ‘Bien Proud.’ When she got up to the register, the kids’ shirt wouldn’t ring up.”
“She called the manager, the manager came over, and he scanned the item. The same message came up: ‘Do not sell.’ And he said I’m sorry, I can’t sell this to you,” Corley said.
Apparently, Corley began “shaking and burst into tears,” telling the outlet, “It was just an astounding experience and not one that I would expect to be coming from our community.”
“It’s about, you know, my right to purchase an item of clothing for myself or my loved ones that has (sic) a message that I believe in, which is to be proud of myself and to be proud of who I am and to spread that message of inclusivity,” Corley added. Since launching the woke LGBT clothes and then subsequently pulling them from many stores, Target has lost billions in market share.
Far-left Democrat New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver is on the attack, trying to squash an attempt by private advocacy groups to put radical Democrat bills passed during the 2023 Legislative Session and signed by the governor on the ballot for referendum.
Bills attempted to be overturned via referendum include legislation trying local jurisdictions’ hands from regulating abortion, an expansion of school-based health centers pushing abortion and “gender-affirming care,” bills weakening New Mexico elections, a bill harboring criminal abortionists, and legislation expanding the “Human Rights Act.” Read more about the referendum petition project being organized by Better Together New Mexico here.
The Albuquerque Journal reported, “The Secretary of State’s office has directed county clerks not to provide voter lists to those pushing the repeal effort, and warned voters that current petitions circulating are not valid since they have not been approved.”
“In addition, Toulouse Oliver, a Democrat, said in a recent letter the bill blocking local anti-abortion ordinances from being enforced is exempt from repeal. That’s because, under her ruling, it meets a constitutional exemption for laws that provide for the ‘preservation of the public peace, health or safety” of the state,’” the report noted.
Toulouse Oliver wrote on Thursday, “Invalid referendum petitions are being circulated throughout the state to challenge laws passed during the 2023 #NMLEG. As of now, there are no valid referendum petitions in circulation in New Mexico. Check our website for more info.”
NOTICE: Invalid referendum petitions are being circulated throughout the state to challenge laws passed during the 2023 #NMLEG. As of now, there are no valid referendum petitions in circulation in New Mexico. Check our website for more info: https://t.co/rEvEkM4jXz#nmpol
— New Mexico Secretary of State (@NMSecOfState) June 8, 2023
She gave a further update, adding, “Today the 13th District Court dismissed a lawsuit against our office, finding that the laws attempting to be put to referendum are exempted from the referendum process. This has been our position all along & is a win for the rule of law.”
“To date, the Secretary of State has not approved and certified, nor has the Attorney General signed, any referendum petitions submitted and none of the referendum petitions currently being circulated will be considered valid under the law to challenge laws passed during the 2023 Legislative Session,” the Secretary of State’s website reads.
However, according to Better Together New Mexico, a supposed setback in court was fake news.
“You may have read in the Journal or from the Secretary of State that we had a setback in court yesterday over the referendum project. That is inaccurate!” wrote the group.
“Ramona Goolsby filed a Verified Emergency Petition for Declaratory Judgment in the 13th Judicial district on April 11, 2023, against the Secretary of State which was very narrow in scope. There was NO ruling made on the merits of the case. Judge Noel’s dismissal has been set aside as of yesterday and the case has been reopened. There was a Request for Motion to Strike filed yesterday afternoon based on the non-conforming pleading filed by the Attorney General’s office. In addition, Ramona will file a judicial complaint against the judge today.”
“As always, there are concerns that partisan politics are alive and well in our courts since Judge Noel was appointed by Michelle Lujan Grisham in 2020. Keep the faith and keep working!”
Not once throughout Toulouse Oliver’s tenure has she approved a single referendum petition — making the process as difficult as possible to hold the government accountable.
However, litigation is likely coming amid the Democrat’s stonewalling, with groups already ready to take the matter to court.
Jodi Hendricks, the executive director of the New Mexico Family Action Movement, one of the groups leading the charge, “said the coalition supporting the repeal effort, which has received support from the state Republican Party, is ready for a court fight, if necessary,” as TheJournal reported.
Woke far-left Democrat Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller made headlines in 2019 when he spent $30,000 of taxpayer dollars painting a crosswalk rainbow to celebrate LGBT “Pride.”
Now, the mayor is trying to outdo himself, this time painting a public city bus with a “Pride wrap” featuring rainbows and pictures of previous LGBT+ parades in the city.
“The wrap was curated by a city graphic designer who incorporated photos of local Albuquerque residents from previous Pride parades held in the city,” reported the Albuquerque Journal.
Albuquerque city bus. Image courtesy of CABQ in a press release.
“At a time when many places across the country are targeting this community, Albuquerque celebrates, supports, and stands with our LGBTQ+ friends and family,” Keller said in a news release. “We will continue to fight for equality and diversity in our city.”
The ABQ RIDE Pride bus wrap will be displayed throughout June, and will be a participant in the 2023 Pride Parade on Saturday, June 10, in Nob Hill.
“This bus is one of many reminders we deserve, telling us that we belong,” claimed Equality New Mexico executive director Marshall Martinez, a former Planned Parenthood lobbyist.
State Rep. Christine Trujillo (D-Albuquerque) announced Saturday that she would be resigning from the state legislature, effective July 1, 2023.
“It’s been the honor of my life time to represent our community in the Roundhouse for the last decade. Thank you to my neighbors for placing your trust in me as your representative. I hope I have made you proud by fighting for our public schools and working to make life easier for New Mexico families. I look forward to continuing to serve our community in my next chapter,” wrote Trujillo in the press release.
However, the announcement did not indicate a reason for her departure. Now, a recent interview between Trujillo and the Santa Fe New Mexican confirms why she is exiting the chamber.
During the 2023 Legislative Session, while sleeping on a bench in the hallway, a vote was announced and, startled, she ran to her desk but tripped on a piece of carpet — leading to her hitting the desk with her forehead.
“The back of my head hit the floor,” said Trujillo to the outlet.
She reportedly blacked out when the incident occurred but did not immediately go to the hospital because she wanted to stay to participate in the final days of the contentious 60-day legislative session.
Legislative portrait of Rep. Christine Trujillo – 2023.
“Exhaustion was the underlying cause of her fall. She said it’s also a reason she will resign from office at the end of this month. She served more than 10 years in the House of Representatives,” reported the New Mexican.
Once Trujillo leaves the chamber, the Bernalillo County Commission will nominate a successor, more than likely another Democrat due to the partisan makeup of the Commission and her district, which skews 71.63 percent Democrat and only 28.37 percent Republican, according to Princeton University’s analysis.
