Arizona abortion ruling could impact New Mexico
Apr. 9—An Arizona Supreme Court ruling that outlaws most abortions in that state could increase the number of women traveling to New Mexico for the procedure, the executive director of a reproductive rights nonprofit said Tuesday.
The Arizona court ruled that a long-dormant law that predates Arizona's statehood would take effect, opening the door to prosecuting doctors who perform abortions.
The 1864 law provides no exceptions for rape or incest, but allows abortions if a mother's life is in danger. Enforcement can take effect in 14 days.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez on Tuesday criticized the Arizona ruling in a lengthy post on X, calling it "alarming and deeply concerning."
The New Mexico Department of Justice will "use all the tools at our disposal to ensure that New Mexico continues to be a safe haven for all those seeking access to safe reproductive (health care)," Torrez wrote.
New Mexico has seen an influx of women since Texas lawmakers passed severe abortion restrictions in 2021 and the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the abortion protections of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Joan Lamunyon Sanford, executive director of Faith Roots Reproductive Action in New Mexico, said her organization is prepared if the Arizona ruling sends more women to New Mexico from that state.
"We are prepared to provide whatever assistance people in Arizona need," Lamunyon Sanford said Tuesday.
Faith Roots Reproductive Action, formerly known as the New Mexico Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, provides funding and practical assistance such as food, lodging and transportation to women traveling to New Mexico for abortions.
For now, most women served by the nonprofit arrive from Texas and Oklahoma, with relatively few coming from Arizona. But New Mexico could become a destination for Arizona women if the Supreme Court ruling there criminalizes abortion services, Lamunyon Sanford said.
"I anticipate that it will," she said. "These kinds of rules have a real chilling effect" and often lead to misinformation about the availability of abortion services.
"Although we've had so many people come to us from Texas and Oklahoma, and we will have people coming from Arizona, there's still significant numbers of people who either don't know they can leave their state or their community to access care or aren't able to," she said.
Faith Roots Reproductive Action supported 953 Texans in 2023, compared with only 22 New Mexico residents, the Dallas Morning News reported in January.
However, Arizona women also have more options than those in Texas because abortion remains legal in neighboring California and Nevada, she said.
The Arizona ruling handed down Tuesday suggests doctors can be prosecuted for performing the procedure. The 1864 law carries a sentence of two to five years in prison for doctors or anyone else who assists in an abortion.
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, persuaded a state judge in Tucson to lift the block on enforcing the 1864 law. Brnovich's Democratic successor, Attorney General Kris Mayes, had urged the state's high court to side with the Court of Appeals and hold the 1864 law in abeyance.
A proposal pending before the Arizona Legislature that would repeal the 1864 law hasn't received a committee hearing this year.
