Thursday, September 01, 2022Getting Aggressive: MLG Goes All In On Abortion Rights; Proposes $10 Million Clinic For Cruces; Weighing Her Pro-Choice Politics, Plus: While She Talks Choice Ronchetti Talks Child Abuse, And: Alligator Strike: Will An R Get Top UNM Political Post?In an aggressive and somewhat daring move Gov. Lujan Grisham has doubled down on her all-out support for abortion rights, pledging to build a new $10 million reproductive health clinic in the Las Cruces area, even as Republicans and her election opponent take her to task for shirking "New Mexico values" and advocating for abortion "with no limits." Her Executive Order regarding the clinic is here. "This is a state that will stand against any attempts to remove or eviscerate women’s constitutional rights," she declared in announcing the planned clinic. While aggravating pro-life supporters the proposal is sure to excite MLG's base voters who wholeheartedly support the state's status as one of the most liberal in the nation when it comes to abortion rights. It will also raise this Governor's national profile as a fierce protector of those rights, a move sure to please groups like Planned Parenthood that is making a big TV buy on behalf of her re-election bid. The $10 million for the facility will be part of MLG's capital outlay package that she will propose to the 2023 legislative session, if re-elected. On the surface planning a new clinic, necessary because of the many women flocking here for abortions because of new restrictions in Texas and other states, could be seen as politically risky. But the US Supreme Court ruling rescinding national abortion rights drained much of the risk out of such a decision, with concerns over bodily autonomy and personal freedom outweighing squeamishness over late-term abortion. ABORTION POLLING In this month's ABQ Journal poll a full 44% of likely voters in the Las Cruces/Southwest area supported abortion without limits--the highest approval of any region in the state. In the ABQ Metro area, which includes liberal Bernalillo County but also more conservative Valencia and Sandoval counties, abortion with no restrictions--the state's current status--garners the support of 33 percent of those polled with 56 percent in favor of abortion with some limits. Statewide 57 percent of voters are in favor of abortion "with some limits" and 35 percent say it should "always be legal." According to the
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, abortions after 21 weeks make up less than 1.3% of all abortions. This means that abortions that occur beyond 24 weeks make up less than 1% of all procedures. So called late-term abortion, done in the vast majority of those cases because of medical issues, has been demonized for years and the GOP has repeatedly labeled the state "the abortion capital of the Untied States," a phrase again invoked when GOP Guv hopeful Mark Ronchetti condemned MLG's planned reproductive clinic. But that Supreme Court ruling is not animating the pro-life crowd as much as those on the pro-choice side, especially in the population and pro-choice centers of Bernalillo, Dona Ana and Santa Fe counties where the election will ultimately be decided. Only on the Eastside and in the SE Little Texas counties does the pro-life position prevail. The policy and politics of pro-choice work for the Democratic governor. Not so much for Ronchetti who says his compromise is to keep abortion legal for the first 15 weeks of pregnancy with exceptions for the life of the mother and rape and incest. But--and this is the biggest but of Campaign '22--conservative ABQ Reverend Steve Smothermon announced in July that Ronchetti's position is a deception, that he privately told him that he was against all abortion. Any questions? CYFD=MESS While Ronchetti has boxed himself in on abortion, he did get in some licks on the bureaucratic and often hideous bungling that has afflicted the state's Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) and the children it is charged with protecting. That he went to the issue on the same day MLG was talking abortion was an obvious but not ineffective tactic to shed light on his plans to reform the long-troubled agency. He said: The Children, Youth, & Families Department has been mired by tragedy after tragedy under MLG's administration. I have a plan to protect our vulnerable children, restore transparency, and increase independent oversight. That plan includes this proposal to try to interrupt the horrid cases of child abuse and murder that have haunted the state: . . .Create an independent Child Protection Division. This division will be tasked with assessing and investigating child abuse and neglect cases. This division will be staffed with highly trained child advocates. This reform will create a wall between those social workers at CYFD tasked with assisting families and those assessing abuse and neglect situations and making legal determinations. Even supporters of MLG admit that CYFD continues to fail at its primary mission of protecting abused children--and that the Governor has been mostly silent on the matter, leaving it to underlings to deal with the mess. Abortion rights is the headliner this campaign season but CYFD and its future deserves a prominent mention in the Guv TV debates. STOP CONRAD JAMES? We're hearing from Democrats who are trying to thwart the possible appointment of former state Rep. Conrad James as the next chief government relations officer for the University of New Mexico. They say the former UNM Regent is one of two finalists for the job and they point to his close association with former GOP Gov. Susana Martinez as reason to reject him for the delicate political post that would deal extensively with the Democratic dominated legislature. The position became vacant last year when Dr. Barbara Damron, a Republican appointed by UNM President Garnett Stokes who served as secretary of higher education under Martinez, left to become a faculty member at the UNM School of Nursing. James, 48, is a scientist with Sandia Labs and was the first Black Republican to be elected to the state legislature from BernCo when he won a seat in 2010 and served one term. The search for the plum post is confidential and while the Gators say James is a finalist they did not have the name of the apparent second finalist who they say is a Dem. Stokes was named UNM president effective March 1, 2018 and was given a five year contract. Her appointment had all the usual signs of La Politica engineered by the Fourth Floor and with the stamp of approval from the then R dominated Regents. But Martinez is long gone and certain Dems are antsy over Stokes' conservative bent. They believe a James appointment into the teeth of a Dem-dominated legislature would be a rebuke of that status and not wise or effective for UNM. An appointment is expected before the January legislative session. Enjoy your Labor Day, Conrad, but don't go near the water. The Alligators are lurking. THE BOTTOM LINES In reporting the passing of former longtime state House Clerk Stephen Arias we said he died in Santa Fe. He died at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, reports the Journal's Dan Boyd. . . The election is fast approaching and we're here to help your campaign get your message out. Email us for information on how to advertise here as the sixty day countdown to Election Day '22 rapidly approaches. This is the home of New Mexico Politics. E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com) |
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