The city of Hobbs, NM passed an ordinance that would ban abortions within the Texas border town despite state law.
The all-male Hobbs city commission voted 7-0 to pass the so-called “sanctuary city for the unborn” ordinance, which blocks abortion clinics from operating there. It marks a first for a town in a state controlled by the Democratic Party, according to anti-abortion advocates.
It follows a delay in passing an identical ordinance by another New Mexico town on Texas’ border, Clovis. Like Hobbs, Clovis does not currently have an abortion clinic, but Mayor Mike Morris has said he doesn’t want to see Clovis become “a destination for abortions” as people from Texas could potentially pass through Clovis to get to other New Mexico destinations for procedures. But he said more work was needed on the ordinance.
The architect of the ordinance is Jonathan Mitchell, a conservative Texas lawyer who was the driving force behind Texas’ six-week “heartbeat” abortion law in 2021.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) called the ordinance “a clear affront to the rights and personal autonomy of every woman in Hobbs and southeastern New Mexico, and we will not stand for it.”
