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New Mexico Legislature moves to preserve abortion rights

Democratic state Sen. Linda Lopez of Albuquerque, standing with a microphone, leads an effort to shore up abortion rights in New Mexico at the Statehouse in Santa Fe, N.M., Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021. Female senators took the lead in presenting the Democratic-sponsored bill that would repeal a 1969 ban on most abortion procedures. The law has been dormant since 1973 when the nation's highest court issued the Roe v. Wade decision, overriding state laws that banned or severely restricted access to abortion procedures. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee)
by: WRTV Staff
Posted:

A bill to shore up abortion rights in New Mexico by overturning a dormant 1969 ban on most abortion procedures has been approved by the Democrat-led Legislature.

The state House passed the bill Friday and sent it to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who has said she will sign it. The initiative stands as a counterpoint to proposed abortion bans this year in several Republican-led legislatures.

If left in place, New Mexico’s ban on most abortion procedures could go into effect if the U.S. Supreme Court eventually overturns the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling.

Meanwhile on Friday, South Carolina’s new law banning most abortions was suspended by a federal judge on its second day in effect. Friday’s suspension will last until the judge can hold a more substantial hearing March 9 on whether the law should not be enforced until Planned Parenthood’s legal challenge is finished.

Gov. Henry McMaster signed the law Thursday. South Carolina’s new ban is similar to abortion restriction laws that a dozen states have previously passed. All were stopped from taking effect and currently are tied up in court.

Abortion is legal under federal law.

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