The New Mexico Independent

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The New Mexico Independent going forward

By | 11.16.11

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…

EIB hears more anti-cap-and-trade testimony

Mesa Verde 80
By | 11.10.11

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…

New Mexico’s largest university low in popularity

jobs-80
By | 11.10.11

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.

RH Reality Check

Photo: Steve Rhodes, Flickr

Arizona legislative session closes with passage of abortion laws

By | 04.22.11 | 4:04 pm

Arizona wrapped its 50th legislative session this week, with both Republican-controlled chambers passing several pieces of legislation that will likely impact women seeking abortions in the coming year. All abortion-related bills that passed have been signed by Gov. Jan Brewer.

Court sides with lesbian couple in wedding photo case

By | 12.18.09 | 6:05 pm

A District Court Judge ruled this week that an Albuquerque photo studio violated New Mexico’s Human Rights Act in 2006, when the owner refused to photograph a lesbian couple’s commitment ceremony—simply because they’re lesbians, the Albuquerque Journal reports.

N.M. bill proposes constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man, one woman

By | 12.16.09 | 7:00 pm

Wednesday was the first day to pre-file legislation for the legislative session that begins January 19, and among the 15 bills posted on the New Mexico Legislature’s Web site late Wednesday is one that proposes a constitutional amendment defining…

Kokesh and the guy who brought an assault rifle to an Obama event

By | 12.04.09 | 3:47 pm

Here’s an interesting tidbit brought to our attention by our Washington bureau. Adam Kokesh, who is running for Congress as a Republican in the deeply Democratic 3rd Congressional district that includes Santa Fe and Taos, has posted on…

N.M. pro-choice group condemns abortion restrictions in House health bill

By | 11.10.09 | 6:00 am

The New Mexico Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice today expressed outrage that an amendment included in health care legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday could mean the loss of abortion coverage for millions of…

Court rules against “America’s Toughest Sheriff” on abortions for inmates

By | 10.20.09 | 3:50 pm

On Tuesday an Arizona court found that Maricopa County Sheriff Joseph Arpaio can no longer force women prisoners to pay in advance for transportation and security costs in order to obtain an abortion, according to a press release from the…

Santa Fe man accused of killing pregnant girlfriend has high-powered legal help

By | 09.04.09 | 1:19 pm

Marino Leyba, Jr., who Santa Fe police say shot and killed his pregnant girlfriend and her father in May, is being represented by Gary C. Mitchell of Ruidoso, who has defended 70 death penalty cases and who happens to…

N.M. Religious Coalition for Choice fights back on health care reform

By | 08.04.09 | 3:21 pm

Abortion has become a major issue dividing Democratic leadership from Republicans and conservative “Blue Dog” Democrats as they debate health care reform, and now one Albuquerque group is pushing back. The New Mexico Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice

N.M. lawmaker seeks to protect ‘unborn victims of violence’

By | 07.17.09 | 4:00 pm

In the wake of a horrific murder in Santa Fe, one Republican state lawmaker says he’ll ask Gov. Bill Richardson to add a controversial proposal — the Unborn Victims of Violence Act — to the agenda for the next legislative session.

Albuquerque Public Schools doesn’t allow distribution of condoms??? Believe it.

By | 07.16.09 | 3:16 pm

I’m just as surprised as Albuquerque Journal reporter Charlie Eisenhood, who blogged this week about his shock in finding out that the Albuquerque Public Schools doesn’t allow the distribution of condoms or other birth control.

Meanwhile, New Mexico has…

FDA approves one-pill Plan B emergency contraception to 17-year-olds

By | 07.14.09 | 9:17 am

The Food and Drug Administration has approved the sale of the emergency contraceptive Plan B to women 17 and older, after a federal court ordered the agency to do so.

Pro-choice advocates push to lift ban on federal funding for abortion

By | 07.10.09 | 8:40 am

Pro-choice advocates in Washington are urging Congress and President Obama to repeal restrictions that prevent federal money from being used to provide abortions for poor women, a quarter of whom are forced to carry their pregnancies to term because they can’t afford an abortion.

EMILY’s List endorses Diane Denish for governor

By | 06.26.09 | 11:15 am

3603676513_79ed4ed1a9Lt. Governor Diane Denish was endorsed today by EMILY’s List, a political action committee that works to elect pro-choice Democratic women. Jonathan Parker, political director at EMILY’s List, said that Denish was one of only two gubernatorial candidates endorsed so far…

Santa Fe murders prompt new push for ‘fetal homicide’ law

By | 06.18.09 | 4:29 pm

The brutal murder of a pregnant Santa Fe teenager has reopened a debate over how to properly punish such crimes. It has also prompted supporters of a “fetal homicide” bill to say they plan to introduce it again in the next session of the New Mexico Legislature.

Kansas abortion clinic to close permanently — reactions mixed

By | 06.09.09 | 5:08 pm

The family of slain abortion provider Dr. George Tiller announced Tuesday that his Kansas clinic will close permanently. Activists on both sides of the abortion issue expressed regret that the closure was the result of violence, but beyond there…

No death penalty for Scott Roeder, accused of murdering abortion doctor

By | 06.02.09 | 3:28 pm

The man accused of murdering Kansas abortion provider Dr. George Tiller  was charged today with one count of first degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault but he will not face the death penalty. 

Roeder is not expected…

Did Bill O’Reilly, Operation Rescue encourage violence against Kansas abortion doctor?

By | 06.01.09 | 12:13 pm

A story posted on Salon.com yesterday argues that FoxNews host Bill O’Reilly is responsible for pushing an image of a Kansas abortion provider that was so monstrous and exaggerated that it fanned the flames of violent anger among the…

Kansas abortion doctor ‘a person of conscience and faith,’ N.M. pro-choice religious group says

By | 06.01.09 | 11:35 am

“Dr. Tiller was a person of conscience and faith,” writes Joan Lamunyon Sanford of the New Mexico Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, in reaction to the murder of Dr. George Tiller, who was shot Sunday in the foyer of his church…

Most Americans identify as ‘pro-life’ for first time

By | 05.19.09 | 2:20 am

A recent Gallup poll reveals that most Americans now describe themselves as “pro-life,” for the first time since Gallup began asking the question in 1995. But numbers from the same poll show 76 percent of Americans still believe abortion should be legal in all or some cases — a number that remains unchanged from 1975.

Abstinence-only advocates pursue funding from Congress

By | 05.12.09 | 7:40 pm

There is the possibility that supporters could convince Congress to change President Obama’s proposed budget to include some funding directly for abstinence-only programs. But New Mexico’s senators and representatives are not likely to champion those efforts.