Edgewood in New Mexico considers first ‘Sanctuary City for the Unborn’ ordinance since passage of HB7

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily of Live Action or Live Action News.

On Tuesday, April 4, the Town Commission of Edgewood, New Mexico (pop. 6,154), considered a “Sanctuary City for the Unborn” (SCFTU) ordinance during a workshop meeting focusing on the subject. Edgewood is the first municipality in New Mexico to consider a SCFTU ordinance since Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed House Bill 7 into law on March 16, 2023.

House Bill 7, titled “the Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Health Care Freedom Act,” prohibits counties and cities from restricting abortion access and was said by members of the legislature to be a ‘solution’ to cities and counties throughout New Mexico passing SCFTU ordinances. 

The meeting, which was standing room only, took place in the Edgewood Commission Chambers – with the majority of the 150 in attendance being in support of the ordinance. 

Like the ordinances passed in the cities of Hobbs, Clovis, and Eunice and the counties of Lea and Roosevelt, the Edgewood Ordinance requires compliance with federal statutes 18 U.S.C. §§ 1461-1462 on the shipping and receiving of abortion-inducing drugs and abortion-paraphernalia. The mode of enforcement for the proposed ordinance was the same private enforcement mechanism used in 52 of the 67 of the SCFTU ordinances which have been passed in cities and counties across the United States. The ordinance was provided to Commissioner Sterling Donner from the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Initiative and was drafted by Attorney Jonathan F. Mitchell. 

While the workshop was scheduled to begin at 6:30 PM, several trolls chose to interrupt the Zoom call – echoing racial slurs, broadcasting porn, and showing male genitalia. These interferences caused the meeting to start over an hour late. 

At the beginning of the meeting, the Town Commission heard from attorneys to present their views on the proposed ordinance before them. Attorney Tony Ortiz and Attorney Frank Copler, both from Santa Fe, were the first to give their take on the ordinance. Both opposed the proposed measure and both mentioned House Bill 7 as the reason why New Mexico municipalities could not pass ordinances like the one which was being considered.

Copler shared, “A municipality which adopts a charter, i.e. home rule city, can exercise all legislative powers and perform all functions not expressly denied by general law or charter. Unfortunately folks, I am the messenger. Don’t kill me. HB 7 is a specific denial. I’m sorry, but that’s the facts.” 

After the Town Commission heard from attorneys against the ordinance, they heard from attorneys in favor: Attorney Mike Seibel with Abortion On Trial, based in Albuquerque, spoke first and shared about his experience dealing with an unregulated abortion industry in the state. Attorney Jonathan F. Mitchell, based out of Austin, Texas, joined by Zoom and addressed how the proposed ordinance did not conflict with HB 7 as the other attorneys had argued. Mitchell shared: 

This ordinance does not ban abortion at all. It simply requires compliance with the federal Comstock laws, which prohibit not abortion, but the shipment of abortion-related equipment in interstate commerce. And there are two possible ways the Comstock laws can be interpreted. One way is the interpretation adopted by the Biden Administration, which says that you cannot violate the statutes unless you have the intent of facilitating an illegal abortion in a state where abortion has been outlawed.

If the courts accept that interpretation of the statutes, then your ordinance does nothing whatsoever to restrict abortion and therefore it cannot violate House Bill 7. 

If, on the other hand, the courts reject the Biden Administration’s interpretation of the statutes, and say that the Comstock laws mean exactly what they say, then there is a federal-law prohibition in all 50 states against the shipment or receipt of abortion pills and that federal-law prohibition will trump anything in House Bill 7. 

So the way we have crafted this ordinance, it is impossible for there to be a conflict with House Bill 7 because the ordinance is not banning abortion. It is merely requiring compliance with federal statutes and the courts will interpret what those federal statutes mean and that will ultimately be the scope of this ordinance.

According to Mitchell, if the Biden Administration is wrong in its narrow reading of the Comstock Act, it is “game over” for the abortion industry, not just in New Mexico, but in every state in America. Mitchell explained to the Town Commission:

If the Supreme Court of the United States holds that the Comstock law means what they say, that would be a defeat far more catastrophic than Dobbs for the supporters of abortion access, not only in New Mexico but everywhere in the United States.

A ruling of that sort would effectively ban abortion nationwide, making it impossible for abortions to be performed even in blue states like New York, California, and even New Mexico. Because even though the Comstock law does not ban abortion literally, it bans the shipment or receipt of any abortion-related equipment.

After the Town Commission heard from the attorneys, the Town Commission opened up the floor to hear from the community – the majority of whom spoke in favor of the commission passing the ordinance. When the commission had heard from everyone in attendance who wanted to speak, each commissioner gave their own statement. 

Commissioner Sterling Donner, who had brought the ordinance to council, began his comments with the reading of Scripture.

The second commissioner to speak was Commissioner Ken Brennan, who shared his own personal story of the loss of his child and how he couldn’t understand the intentional destruction of human life through abortion. 

A child is a precious gift that is given to us. I lost my son when my son was still five months, four months to go to make it. And we did have a funeral. I got to see him before he left. I, for the love of God, cannot understand why anyone would purposefully destroy that? I really don’t… Life is life. The Lord gave us that. That is the one greatest gift that he has ever given us. And it is a shame to me to see people and politicians just willing to throw that away.

The third commissioner to speak was Commissioner Jerry Powers, who thanked the community for sharing the stories of their experiences and revealed that he too had a story. Commissioner Powers shared, “I suffered the loss without consent and it was one of the worst experiences of my life. I don’t know how you could feel attached as I did. It wasn’t in my body, the baby, but it was something that I wouldn’t want to go through again.”

The fourth commissioner to speak was Commissioner Filandro R. Anaya, who had been perceived by many to be the most hostile towards the idea of passing an ordinance. Commissioner Anaya expressed that he was struggling with this issue and that he had even taken a break during the meeting to go pray. 

The last commissioner to speak was Mayor and Town Commissioner Audrey Jaramillo. Commissioner Jaramillo shared that the reason she went to Liberty University was to have a Christian foundation in law and expressed that her position as a public servant was not one which she took lightly. After referencing Romans 13, Commissioner Jaramillo shared:

I think our role as governing officials is really just to stand for what is right and really use our voices of the people. I heard a comment earlier about not wanting to divide Edgewood, but I really don’t see any division here….

Close to 50 years ago my Mom chose life. My mom got pregnant with me when she was 15 years old. My bio-dad left her and she chose life. In the midst of that she had a lot of pressure to give me up for adoption. She had me at a Catholic hospital where the nuns whisked me away because they had adoptive parents picked out for me. 

My Mom was struggling and convicted, praying all night. Toward the morning she said she heard a voice that said, “Keep her. You must keep her.” In a loving, but firm voice, and my Mom said that she just knew. And then miracles started happening. A student nurse brought me in to see my Mom, against all the rules. Then a neighbor offered to watch me while she was finishing high school. My Grandma came in and changed her mind completely. Those little miracles were happening that morning. 

Commissioner Jaramillo concluded her comments, stating, “[God] cares about every little soul and every little life and he does not make mistakes.”

After the comments of the Town Commission, it was announced that the ordinance would be considered on April 25, 2023, and at that meeting the Town Commission could choose to pass the ordinance if they so desired. 

If the Edgewood Town Commission decides to pass the ordinance it will be the fourth municipality and the sixth political subdivision to pass an ordinance in New Mexico from the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Initiative, the second city in New Mexico to pass an ordinance since New Mexico’s Attorney General filed suit against two cities and two counties in the state, and the first city to pass an ordinance since the New Mexico Supreme Court issued a stay of four of the five ordinances to have been passed in the state. 

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