New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham expressed concern on Sunday that the United States is heading towards a national abortion ban, as state legislators and courts work to restrict abortion access across the country.
“It’s every social issue that you disagree with, whether it’s stem cell research, fertility, drugs, whatever it is,” Lujan Grisham said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
The Democratic governor recently signed two legislation into law that safeguard abortion providers and ensure access to reproductive and gender-affirming care, just as a judge in neighbouring Texas tried to halt the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, one of two medicines used jointly to trigger abortions.
With the destiny of mifepristone now in the hands of the courts, a number of states that support abortion rights have rushed to stockpile the medicine. However, governments must do more than stockpile abortion pills, according to Lujan Grisham.
“We were going to make sure — and we already are — that we have access to all of those medications,” she told Margaret Brennan, the show’s host. “However, if the response is to stockpile rather than protect all access, we are minimising the work that needs to be done to ensure that women and families are fully protected.”
The New Mexico measure signed by Lujan Grisham places no restrictions on when a woman can have an abortion throughout her pregnancy.
“These are heinous medical conditions.” “And, once again, New Mexico’s and my position is that we should not interfere with a woman’s right medical situation and her decision about that potentially life-threatening situation,” Lujan Grisham added. “We shouldn’t be doing that.”
