Late last week, the New Mexico state House of Representatives voted in favor of a bill that would allow abortion up until birth. If the bill then passes the state Senate, the governor has already promised she will sign it, making New Mexico the latest of several states looking to pass expansive abortion laws. But the bill is also raising some uncomfortable questions: why do we allow human preborn babies to be subjected to procedures that are considered too cruel for animals?
Rep. Rod Montoya, the House minority whip, asked the sponsor of the bill, Rep. Joanne Ferrary, if it would allow abortion up until the moment of birth, and she eventually admitted that it would. The most common abortion procedure past 25 weeks of pregnancy is an induction abortion, in which the abortionist uses a large needle to inject a fatal dose of digoxin or potassium chloride into the baby, causing the child’s death. The abortionist then uses laminaria to dilate the woman’s cervix, and the next day, she returns to the abortion facility for an ultrasound to ensure the baby has died. If he has not passed away yet, the abortionist will administer another shot of digoxin or potassium chloride. After several days, once her cervix has dilated enough, the abortionist will give the mother drugs to induce labor so she can deliver the body of her baby.
Rep. Montoya pointed out that current New Mexico statutes ban intra-cardiac injection on animals. “The reason this procedure is deemed cruel and inhumane to animals is that … it takes up to 24 hours for the baby to die,” he explained.
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New research does indicate that preborn babies could potentially feel pain as early as eight weeks gestation, and by 18 weeks, will exhibit stress responses to painful stimuli. By 25 weeks, when induction abortions are committed, there is plenty of evidence indicating that preborn children are conscious human beings. Loud noises can make the baby startle, the baby has a sense of smell, and her eyes react to light and produce tears. Babies are considered viable even earlier than 25 weeks, and yet, these children can be targeted for a procedure deemed too cruel to use on animals.
New Mexico already has some of the most permissive laws in the country regarding abortion, allowing it through all nine months of pregnancy, with no parental notification laws. The current bill would overturn the state’s abortion ban, put into place in 1969, before Roe v. Wade was passed. But when Roe was decided and abortion became legal in 1973, all state laws concerning abortion were essentially overridden. With pro-abortion lawmakers in New Mexico fearing that Roe could potentially be overturned soon, they are acting fast to ensure that abortion still remains legal — without limits — in New Mexico.
READ: Abortionists admit that third trimester abortions are done on healthy babies
The bill would also decriminalize the intentional killing of a preborn child, even against the mother’s wishes. The current law concerning criminal abortion would be declared void if the bill passes, so much like in New York, someone who commits an act of violence against a woman and kills her preborn child will no longer be held responsible for it. The bill will also allow non-physicians to commit abortions, and also removes conscience protections for health care providers who don’t want to be involved in abortion.
In an e-mail, New Mexico Right for Life Executive Director Elisa Martinez released a statement on the bill’s progress. “HB-51 is the most extreme bill in the nation because it keeps elective abortion-up-to-birth, and also seeks to force medical professionals to participate in this practice by stripping away explicit conscience protections from the current statute,” she said. “This bill is a Trojan horse backed by the national abortion lobby in order to establish abortion as a human right by removing so-called ‘religious refusals’ and turn every hospital, clinic and doctor’s office into an abortion clinic or referral center.”
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