State ex. rel. Raúl Torrez v. Board of County Commissioners for Lea County
New Mexico Supreme Court granted mandamus and prohibited enforcement of local ordinances that sought to restrict access to abortion services by expressly incorporating the federal Comstock Act, holding the ordinances are preempted by state reproductive healthcare and medical licensing statutes. The court declined to reach the petitioner’s alternate state constitutional arguments that the local ordinances violate New Mexico’s equal rights amendment or right to terminate a pregnancy, or to address whether the Comstock Act federally preempted the state laws.
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