On Tuesday, the pro-choice movement scored a big win in New Mexico: Albuquerque voters defeated a dangerous referendum that would have banned abortion after 20 weeks.
The referendum was the first proposed city-level abortion restriction in the country and, if it had passed, would have had far-reaching national implications and set an alarming precedent.
But with the help of Feminist Majority Foundation supporters and a strong coalition of pro-choice organizations, we made sure that didn’t happen.
Yesterday, a record number residents turned out to vote against this harmful referendum. Together, we sent a strong message to the legislators across the country — both on the state and national level — who are proposing similar bans: We will not go back. We will not stop fighting.
Our team of National Campus Organizers helped mobilize a huge student vote, overwhelming the shuttles we sponsored with Young Women United and ProgressNow New Mexico to take students to the polls. And Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers and Feminist Majority Foundation Board Member, played a great role in helping to rally students and community activists.
I would like to especially thank the many Feminist Majority Foundation supporters who donated directly to the Respect ABQ Women campaign and helped fund this victory. We also could not have won without the tremendous efforts from our student leaders at the University of New Mexico and Central New Mexico Community College.
Still, our work is not over: Yesterday, the Supreme Court refused to block a Texas law that requires doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. So while we celebrate this victory, we also must focus on coming battles and use this momentum to win them, too.
In just the past two years, you have helped us defeat anti-abortion ballot measures in Mississippi, North Dakota, and Florida. We can now add Albuquerque to that list.