“Historic Albuquerque citywide referendum, which was the first attempt in the country to restrict abortions at the local level.”
From June 28-July 25th over 27,000 ABQ residents signed the petition to get the “Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Ordinance” onto a Nov. 19th citywide election ballot. Local pro-lifers worked hard and quick to educate and inform those 27,000 people who were reached primarily in Catholic and Evangelical churches. The months that followed included the first ever citywide election campaign where the citizens of ABQ were given the chance to stand for life by casting a vote for the ordinance to stop abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. This election drew national attention to ABQ, which is now nationally known to be the late term abortion capital of the country. It also served as the fodder for what the city needed to begin to see the atrocities that happen here every week. While only 38,000 people voted for the ordinance and 48,000 voted against it-ultimately causing it to fail, attention was given to the fact that abortions are done through all nine months of pregnancy in ABQ. We were able to reach further into the community with the message of life than ever before and countless seeds were planted within hearts of individuals and whole congregations. We believe that the whole process was what was desperately needed to awaken this city and while we have never put our trust in the political process to be the “silver bullet” that will ultimately end abortion, it opened many doors of opportunities, moving forward. The hearts of the people, especially women, must be changed and molded by God’s heart in order for abortion to end and that is exactly what we will continue to pursue until the killing stops.
Here are a few quotes from (just some of) the national news coverage over the past few months regarding this ballot initiative, which has LAUNCHED Albuquerque into the national spotlight, and has helped expose New Mexico’s radical abortion agenda:
“Compared with its neighbors’ abortion policies, New Mexico’s is practically socialist. Abortion is legal throughout pregnancy, and New Mexico has none of the restrictions—ultrasounds, waiting periods, building-code regulations intended to make it hard for clinics to stay open—that have swept the country in the past five years.” The American Prospect, Anti-Choicers’ New Mexico Experiment
“Mrs. Shaver said it’s called the Wild West of abortion, and she said that’s why Dr. Curtis has set up in New Mexico — and why he draws from so many other states.” The Washington Times, Abortion battle goes local in New Mexico as Albuquerque votes on 20-week ban
“Patients are drawn to the Albuquerque clinic from other states, he said, and ‘it was the national implications of late-term abortions in New Mexico that brought us here. A certain amount of social tension is necessary to cause change,’ [Mr. Shaver, 34] said, citing the methods of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” The New York Times, Albuquerque Becomes Latest Focal Point in Abortion Wars
“Three years ago, anti-abortion ‘missionaries’ Tara and Bud Shaver left Operation Rescue’s base in Kansas with one target: a clinic that abortion opponents say has turned this southwestern city into the late-term abortion capital of America. But after a loss at the medical board and making little headway in the Democrat-controlled Legislature, their group, Project Defending Life, gathered enough signatures to place a late-term abortion ban on the municipal ballot. It is believed to be the first such referendum of its kind in the country and is being watched as a possible new front for activism in the abortion wars that have typically been waged at the federal and state levels.” The Associated Press (AP), Albuquerque vote targets late-term abortion clinic
“The vote — which would effectively end late-term abortions in New Mexico — has turned this low-key, progressive city of a half million people into the latest flash point in the abortion culture wars. It opens a new pro-life strategy to push abortion restrictions at the local as well as state and federal levels.” TIME, Albuquerque Abortion Battle Gains National Attention
“ALBUQUERQUE — A high-desert city in one of the poorest states in the nation has become the abortion debate’s latest battlefield and a testing ground for whether abortion limits can be imposed on the local level. Although similar bans have been passed by state legislatures, New Mexico’s largest city is believed to be the first municipality in the country to place such an initiative on a ballot.” Los Angeles Times, Albuquerque becomes latest abortion battlefield
“The failed referendum in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy is the first known instance of the issue being addressed at a local level, but it might not be the last. ‘I think we’ll see this more and more,’ said Mallory Quigley, communications director for Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion group. ‘We’re constantly doing things on the local level in terms of outreach because those methods are very effective in bringing about social change in general,’ said Tara Shaver, who with her husband, Bud, is with the group Project Defending Life.” CNN, Albuquerque: New path for abortion opponents
“Tara Shaver, the chairwoman of an Albuquerque group that backed the proposed ordinance, said she and other opponents of abortions have become increasingly frustrated by their inability to win votes at the state Legislature in Santa Fe. ‘We were sick and tired of legislators imposing their will on us, so we decided to bring this issue directly to the people,’ said Ms. Shaver, adding that she has gotten calls from people across the country who said they were interested in pushing for similar city referendums. ‘Win or lose, this initiative has been what our city needed to wake them up to the barbaric practice of late-term abortions,’ Ms. Shaver added Tuesday before the final votes had been tallied.” The Wall Street Journal, Albuquerque Voters Reject Bid to Ban Late-Term Abortions
“In the end, Tara and Bud were here before the ordinance, and they’ll be here after it, whether it passes or not. Fetal pain, or abortion after 20 weeks, is something they can get behind, but it’s not their sole mission – they want to see it all gone. ‘We hope the people do rise up and vote for the ordinance,’ said Bud, rounding a corner. Even if they don’t, ‘there’s been awareness raised. And that can only produce some good stuff in the long term.'” MSNBC, The new frontier of the abortion wars
