Where candidates stand on abortion is already a hot topic in the race for New Mexico governor. There have been campaign commercials on the topic, and some are hearing about it from the pulpit.Here in New Mexico, just a year ago, the Legislature overturned a 52-year-old law banning abortion – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the repeal.So, where do Republican Mark Ronchetti and Democrat Lujan Grisham stand on abortion?A television ad funded by Stronger New Mexico Now, a Democrat-funded political action committee claims, “Mark, Ronchetti wants to be our governor, but he opposed a woman’s right to control her own body at all stages.”In response, Ronchetti came out with his own ad show him sitting on a couch saying, “I believe we can all come together on a policy that reflects our shared values. We can end late term abortion while protecting access to contraception and health care.”What Ronchetti says about late-term abortion came into question when well-known Albuquerque Pastor Steve Smothermon said this in a sermon: “I had a long talk with them for hours,” the Legacy Church pastor said during a sermon two weeks ago. “He said, ‘Listen, I just want to start with getting rid of partial-birth abortion in the whole state, which we should be happy with.’ And he said, ‘But I can’t just go in and do it all 100 percent because we won’t ever get elected.’ He said, ‘I just want to start,’ but his goal would be to end abortion in New Mexico.”Target 7 asked Ronchetti’s camp if what Smotherman said was true. His campaign sent us this statement saying what Ronchetti told the Legacy Church pastor is “exactly what he has told everyone else in this race. He wants to end late-term abortion in New Mexico by limiting abortion to the first 15 weeks. His position has been clear and consistent.” Smotherman sent this statement saying, “Mark was clear with me that he is personally pro-life and what he intends to do as governor, which is identical to what he says in his campaign commercial. My comments were not intended to convey his strategy as governor. I believe Mark is committed to ending the terrible practice of late-term abortion in our state, a practice that the current governor sadly embraces.”Prior to the Republican primary, KKOB’s Bob Clark asked all of the candidates where they stood on abortion during KOAT’s gubernatorial debate. “I’m firmly pro-life, and we will protect life. There’s no question but to look at where we are in this state is staggering. We are the late-term abortion capital of North America,” Ronchetti said. “And it has to stop here….We have to protect life. There’s no question about that here. So, what we want to do is we want to work with anyone we can to say, ‘let’s get things into line with where the morality of the state of New Mexico is.’”So, where does Lujan Grisham stand on the issue? Ronchetti has made this claim in his television ad: “The governor supports abortion up to birth. That’s extreme.”Lujan Grisham has not disputed that. She was asked about her stance by CNN’s Jake Tapper shortly after the Roe v Wade decision was announced. “In these late-term abortion issues, these are women who have picked a name, have enrolled in childcare, who have a nursery,” she said. “The kind of medical issues and deeply private personal traumas that are occurring in those aspects…I don’t believe government has any right to interfere and judge those decisions when two medical providers are providing that information directly to their patient.”
Where candidates stand on abortion is already a hot topic in the race for New Mexico governor. There have been campaign commercials on the topic, and some are hearing about it from the pulpit.
Here in New Mexico, just a year ago, the Legislature overturned a 52-year-old law banning abortion – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the repeal.
So, where do Republican Mark Ronchetti and Democrat Lujan Grisham stand on abortion?
A television ad funded by Stronger New Mexico Now, a Democrat-funded political action committee claims, “Mark, Ronchetti wants to be our governor, but he opposed a woman’s right to control her own body at all stages.”
In response, Ronchetti came out with his own ad show him sitting on a couch saying, “I believe we can all come together on a policy that reflects our shared values. We can end late term abortion while protecting access to contraception and health care.”
What Ronchetti says about late-term abortion came into question when well-known Albuquerque Pastor Steve Smothermon said this in a sermon: “I had a long talk with them for hours,” the Legacy Church pastor said during a sermon two weeks ago. “He said, ‘Listen, I just want to start with getting rid of partial-birth abortion in the whole state, which we should be happy with.’ And he said, ‘But I can’t just go in and do it all 100 percent because we won’t ever get elected.’ He said, ‘I just want to start,’ but his goal would be to end abortion in New Mexico.”
Target 7 asked Ronchetti’s camp if what Smotherman said was true. His campaign sent us this statement saying what Ronchetti told the Legacy Church pastor is “exactly what he has told everyone else in this race. He wants to end late-term abortion in New Mexico by limiting abortion to the first 15 weeks. His position has been clear and consistent.”
Smotherman sent this statement saying, “Mark was clear with me that he is personally pro-life and what he intends to do as governor, which is identical to what he says in his campaign commercial. My comments were not intended to convey his strategy as governor. I believe Mark is committed to ending the terrible practice of late-term abortion in our state, a practice that the current governor sadly embraces.”
Prior to the Republican primary, KKOB’s Bob Clark asked all of the candidates where they stood on abortion during KOAT’s gubernatorial debate.
“I’m firmly pro-life, and we will protect life. There’s no question but to look at where we are in this state is staggering. We are the late-term abortion capital of North America,” Ronchetti said. “And it has to stop here….We have to protect life. There’s no question about that here. So, what we want to do is we want to work with anyone we can to say, ‘let’s get things into line with where the morality of the state of New Mexico is.’”
So, where does Lujan Grisham stand on the issue?
Ronchetti has made this claim in his television ad: “The governor supports abortion up to birth. That’s extreme.”
Lujan Grisham has not disputed that. She was asked about her stance by CNN’s Jake Tapper shortly after the Roe v Wade decision was announced.
“In these late-term abortion issues, these are women who have picked a name, have enrolled in childcare, who have a nursery,” she said. “The kind of medical issues and deeply private personal traumas that are occurring in those aspects…I don’t believe government has any right to interfere and judge those decisions when two medical providers are providing that information directly to their patient.”
