On Tuesday, Jan. 25, at 11:30 am, the New Mexico Coalition for Choice celebrates with a rally outside the Roundhouse the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark US Supreme Court decision that guaranteed a woman's right to abortion.
Janet Gotkin, the treasurer of the Santa Fe chapter of the National Organization for Women, says the coalition aims to prevent legislative barriers to abortion.
Chief among them, Gotkin says, is parental notification, which requires minors to notify their parents before getting an abortion. Such bills have come before New Mexico's lawmakers at least since 2005—always under Republican sponsorship and so far without success. No parental notification bill was available online at press time but, according to his office staff, state Sen. William Sharer, R-San Juan, has already filed one.
"These bills have been gaining traction in other states, and with the change in the Legislature, having an anti-choice governor, there's a lot more concern this year," Gotkin says.
Placing such restrictions on teenage girls, she says, is both risky and futile.
"There's no research that shows that having this kind of law reduces the number of abortions," Gotkin says. "These kinds of laws are not there to benefit the teenage girls. They're there to forward a political agenda."
