I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
Photo by Danny Hammontree
In 2006, when the South Dakota legislature passed a bill outlawing nearly all abortions, South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds said at the time that he hoped the restrictive law would invite legal challenges and eventually overturn Roe v. Wade. But pro-choice activists — including some who traveled to South Dakota from New Mexico — mobilized and gathered enough petition signatures to put the measure on the ballot in the November general election.
That measure was defeated and polls showed that the law would have had greater support if it had included exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. So anti-abortion supporters drafted a new ballot initiative that includes very strict exceptions.
But the exception for the life of the mother is so narrow that doctors say it amounts to a total ban. As a Rapid City doctor who specializes in high-risk pregnancies told the Washington Post:
“If there’s a risk of a Class 4 felony if I don’t meet the ambiguous standard of ‘serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily organ or system,’ there’s no way I would consider doing an abortion for health reasons.”
As recently as 2007, Republican presidential nominee John McCain had said that he was in favor of allowing abortions in the case of rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother; recently he has declined to address the issue. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain’s running mate, has said she favors outlawing abortion even in the case of rape or incest, but as Katie Couric points out, only 17 percent of women agree with her on that. Couric blogged about Palin on Monday night just before interviewing her. Couric is spending two days following the vice-presidential candidate; the interviews will air Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 29-30, on CBS News with Katie Couric.
