DAILY LOBO new mexico
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wednesday November 20, 2013
Abortion ordinance fails in city election by Ardee Napolitano, Chloe Henson news@dailylobo.com @ArdeeTheJourno, @ChloeHenson5
Albuquerque voters snubbed a citywide ordinance in the city’s runoff
election Tuesday that proposed to prohibit late-term abortions. Voters took to the polls to weigh in on the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Ordinance, which would have banned abortion after 20 weeks, excepting situations in which the mother’s life is
endangered by the pregnancy. According to the Office of the City Clerk’s website at press time, 48,042 voted against the ordinance and 38,898 were for it, amounting to about 55 percent against the ordinance and about 45 percent for. Sam Bregman, chairman for the
Ruby Santos / Daily Lobo Abortion rights supporters cheer as the election’s results are announced at the Hotel Andaluz in downtown Albuquerque Tuesday night. Unofficial results from the Bernalillo County listed 55 percent against and 45 percent in support of the late-term abortion ban.
Poll numbers surge due to ballot’s abortion proposal by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com @ArdeeTheJourno
This year, more voters showed up at the polls during Tuesday’s runoff election than did for October’s citywide mayoral election. According to data from the Office of the City Clerk, 87,296 registered Albuquerque voters cast their ballots during the runoff election, representing a 24 percent citywide turnout. This is a 4 percent increase from the mayoral election on Oct. 8, in which 71,091 people voted. Albuquerque City Clerk Amy Bailey said the turnout increase during the runoff cycle was evident early on. She said about 44,000 people voted early, which was a “phenomenal early voting turnout.” “People have a great interest in voting,” Bailey said. “They are interested in the subject matter as well as the runoff election.” Paul Heh, who ran as a Republican mayoral candidate in October, said the abortion ban decision magnetized more voters into polls. “I think the city is pretty tired of politics and they now realize that the politics affect them and they need to be involved in this process,” he said. “The abortion issue is a passionate issue on both sides. That’s the reason for the high voter turnout.” On Tuesday, Albuquerque voters turned down the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Ordinance, which would have banned abortion after 20 weeks, excepting situations in which the mother’s life is endangered by the pregnancy. As of press time, 55 percent of all city voters rejected
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the ordinance, while 45 percent voted for it. Heh said he tried to put the abortion ban vote on the ballot for the mayoral election but was turned down by the City Council. “The only involvement I did is I tried to get it on the ballot for the mayoral election,” he said. “I did go to the City Council to do that because I knew it would have been a huge voter turnout even if people vote for or against. Whichever you are, you would have gone out and voted … They didn’t want to do that. They wanted to play politics.” Heh said that if the abortion ban was placed on the ballot during the mayoral election, more people would have voted in October. And he said it would have altered Republican Mayor Richard Berry’s victory for a second term. ”I think it should have been on the ballot for the mayoral election,” he said. “I’m not saying I would have won, but we would have had a much better cross-section of the city and would have seen actually what we really wanted deciding who was going to run the city for the next four years.” Although the abortion ban lost during the runoff election, Heh, who identifies as Republican, said the vote will end up like the Second Judicial District Court’s August ruling on samesex marriage in Bernalillo County. “Regardless of whether it passes or it gets defeated, it’s not going to end here,” he said. “Everybody knows that this is going to go on to the courts and courts and courts, filing all the way up to the (New Mexico) Supreme Court, where it’s all going to be decided.
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Democratic Party of New Mexico, said his party campaigned hard to get this ordinance rejected. “We had young Democrats and various Democrats across the country, as well as New Mexican Democrats, to make sure that we got out the vote,” he said. Bregman said an important aspect of the election is that Albuquerque voters rejected the “right-wing extremist attack on women” that came from activists outside of the state. “I’m very proud of the people of Albuquerque for setting a national example that we won’t tolerate other people coming in and trying to dictate what’s right for a woman when it comes to her personal health,” he said. The election’s outcome was a result of campaigning and Albuquerque’s liberal demographic, Bregman said. “Albuquerque stands up for women and rejects the idea that government should be involved in the very private health care decisions of women,” he said. “I also know that we worked very hard to make sure we got the message out to Democrat voters, and we got them to the polls.” Bregman said he hopes an ordinance similar to this will not appear in Albuquerque again. In contrast, Samantha Serrano, president of anti-abortion UNM student organization Students for Life, said she was disappointed by
Tuesday’s results. “I am truly heartbroken that it didn’t pass, especially since the people who voted against the ban knew that these babies, at 20 weeks and older, feel pain,” she said. “It’s just sad that our citizens … do not care about the unborn child in the womb.” Serrano said that although her organization is still uncertain about its next step with regard to its antiabortion goal, her group will continue fighting for a similar ban in the future. She said she hopes Albuquerque’s attempt for a late-term ban might set a precedent for other cities nationwide. “We are absolutely not going to stop fighting for these unborn children,” she said. “We didn’t rescue Albuquerque tonight, but that doesn’t mean we can’t rescue it in the future. I think other cities have seen what we’ve done, and they’re not going to tolerate late-term abortions in the country anymore.” In a speech at an abortion rights event, Jennifer Ford, campaign director for Respect ABQ Women, said the results of this election send a message to the nation regarding abortion rights. “Let this be a lesson to all 50 states and to Congress,” she said. “Tonight, the people of Albuquerque rejected an extreme agenda pushed by out-ofstate, out-of-touch groups that want to end safe abortion altogether.” The ordinance was not about
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AGONY OF DEFEAT
Rachel Toraño-Mark / @carpeline / Daily Lobo Redshirt junior Ebony Walker is escorted from the court supported by assistant coach Joseph Anders and strength and conditioning coach Molly McKinnon during Tuesday night’s game at The Pit due to an injury. See full story on Page 5.
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