SANTA FE, New Mexico (LifeSiteNews) — In response to life-saving legislation in Republican-led states, New Mexico’s far-left Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on April 5 signed a new law codifying legal protections to kill babies in the womb and perform mutilating transgender surgeries.
“We are seeing the rights of individuals seeking critical health care services being quashed in states around the country,” Gov. Lujan Grisham said in a press release. “These policies have real consequences that play out in the lives of American families, and New Mexico is a state that will stand up for the rights of all to access the health care services they need.”
The state senate had passed the bill last month in a 23-15 vote after shooting down all amendments proposed by Republicans to protect conscience rights of physicians, require minors to obtain parental consent, or eliminate concerning language in the legislation that some worried could decriminalize infanticide.
According to the language of the legislation, “[a] public body or agent of a public body shall not discriminate against a person based on that person’s use of or refusal to use reproductive health care services.” Public entities will also be prohibited from “directly or indirectly, deny[ing], restrict[ing] or interfer[ing] with a person’s ability to access or provide reproductive health care or gender-affirming health care [sic] within the medical standard of care.”
Sponsored by Sens. Linda Lopez, Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, Nancy Rodriguez, Brenda G. McKenna and Siah Correa Hemphill, Senate Bill 13 will codify previous executive action by Gov. Lujan Grisham to establish New Mexico as a sanctuary for abortion in opposition to pro-life states.
The April 5 press release from the governor’s office noted that the new law, SB 13, goes beyond Lujan Grisham’s earlier executive order “by prohibiting public bodies from restricting access to abortion and gender-affirming health care [sic].”
The measure will also bar cities and counties from directly or indirectly interfering in someone’s efforts to obtain so-called “reproductive health care” or “gender-affirming care,” thereby authorizing the state attorney general, district attorneys, and private citizens to initiate civil action against violators of the legislation.
Those found guilty of running afoul of the measure could face $5,000 or more in fines paid out to the initiating party, LifeSiteNews previously reported.
The move by the far-left state comes amid a bevy of contrary laws advanced in Republican-led states to safeguard the lives of preborn babies and protect children from the real physical and psychological harms of transgender ideology.
Neighboring Texas, for instance, has eliminated nearly all abortions within state borders through its robust pro-life laws. Late last month, the Lone Star State’s senate passed two bills to uphold biological reality and protect kids by banning the transgender mutilation of children and blocking gender-confused males from competing in women’s college sports.