The Edgewood Commission is taking steps to approve putting an anti-abortion referendum on the ballot for the third time.
At a meeting set for 6 p.m. May 30, commissioners are expected to vote on a resolution directing the town clerk to issue a proclamation for a special all-mail-in vote election. If approved, residents of Edgewood can vote for or against an abortion ordinance passed by the town commission in April 2023.
The ordinance bans the distribution of abortion medication or equipment by mail in Edgewood.
On Jan. 8, the Edgewood Commission approved a special election that allowed residents to vote on the abortion referendum. The estimated cost of the special mail-in election would have been $36,000 had the proclamation been approved.
The commission announced on Feb. 13 that Santa Fe County Clerk Katharine Clark rejected the proclamation and determined the form of the ballot question was improper and therefore had no legal effect.
In a letter to Edgewood Town Manager Nina R. McCracken, Clark wrote, “The question is posed in the form of an initiative ballot question, rather than a referendum ballot question and has no legal effect. Accordingly, the County Clerk is rejecting the Proclamation and will not conduct the Special Election requested by the Proclamation.”
Hobbs, Clovis, Roosevelt and Lea counties have passed similar anti-abortion ordinances using the Comstock Act of 1873, which deemed it illegal to send contraceptives by mail.
The New Mexico Supreme Court held a hearing in December after state Attorney General Raúl Torrez petitioned the court to repeal ordinances enacted by the Hobbs, Clovis, Roosevelt and Lea county governments. Torrez says the ordinances violate House Bill 7, which was signed to prohibit governments from interfering with access to reproductive health care.
The Supreme Court has not yet made a ruling in that case.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
WHEN: Thursday, May 30, 6 p.m.
WHERE: Edgewood Commission Chambers, 171A State Rd. 344 in Edgewood. VIRTUAL: Town of Edgewood Facebook page.