United States: Edgewood, the city left at the center of the new battle on abortion with the mail as protagonist

When Marcia Smith moved last year to a small town in the liberal state of New Mexico, the last thing on her mind was what the future had in store. a battle for access to abortion in the United States.

But in April, during a long and heated town meeting, Smith, a 57-year-old social worker, watched in horror as the community of Edgewood, in southern Santa Fe County, voted in favor of the mail ban pills widely used to induce abortion.

The local politicians behind this ordinance were “drunk on the attention, admiration and adulation of these MAGAs (an acronym for former Republican President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement). who call themselves Christians” Smith said.

Smith founded the group “We Call 4 A Recall” to collect signatures with the goal of bblock the municipal ordinance huntil it is subjected to a popular referendum.

The only person who opposed the project in the municipal assembly, Filandro Anaya, told AFP He was called “rubbish” and warned that he would “go to hell”.

After the United States Supreme Court canceled the constitutional right to abortion in 2022, With a ruling that left states free to define their own laws on the matter and reversing the federal protection that had prevailed in the country for years, New Mexico – governed by Democrats – consolidated itself as one of the states with the strongest protection for the Village. procedure thanks to its strong legal framework.

But to escape this procedural protection, the rural community of Edgewood, of just over 6,000 inhabitants and with a Republican majority, followed the advice of lawyers from the neighboring state of Texas who three years ago drafted a radical anti-abortion law called such as “Heartbeat Law”.

One of those lawyers, Jonathan Mitchell, he now represents Donald Trump before a Supreme Court case seeking to exclude the former president (2017-2021) from the ballot for his alleged involvement in the violent invasion of Congress by a mob of his supporters in January 2021.

Edgewood officials “were in awe of these two gentlemen from Texas talking about all these wonderful things they think they can do,” Smith said.

But the threat against the right to abortion remains latent thanks to this project specifically designed to extend to all of New Mexico.

Like the Texas law, Edgewood’s ordinance is designed to encourage citizens to enforce it individually legal action against any neighbor who receives abortion pills.

It is inspired by an obsolete federal law from 150 years ago, which has become the new tool of those who oppose abortion in the United States.

This regulation prohibits it sending “obscene, indecent or lascivious” material. such as pornography or anything “intended to prevent conception or obtain an abortion.”

attack

Although the law was barely enforced for a century, Mitchell told Edgewood leaders that he intended to file enough lawsuits in multiple jurisdictions to create “a division of powers that will force the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene.”

“It would effectively ban abortion nationwide, or “It would make things very difficult even in liberal states like New York, California and even New Mexico.”Mitchell said.

If the highest court in the land ruled that this law must be followed to the letter, it would be “more catastrophic” than expected for the reproductive rights movement.

The pills, which do not pose significant risks for terminating pregnancies up to ten weeks, They are used in half of abortions in the United States.

After two failed attempts to hold a referendum, Edgewood was expected to vote on the issue next month. But local authorities have not approved the ballot proposal, so there are no dates yet.

Ken Brennan, Edgewood’s mayor and supporter of the ban, said he was “hopeful” about the delay.

“I think everything goes directly to the governor’s office. I don’t think they want the referendum to be held.. Because if that happened, people would vote for it, which would not reflect well on the governor who is very pro-abortion,” she explained.

But for many in Edgewood, resolution is not the power of local government.

Frank Coppler, an Edgewood prosecutor, warned officials about this they did not have “the necessary authority to adopt such ordinance”. However, they followed Mitchell’s advice.

“Never in 50 years of doing this have I seen anything like this,” he said.

Marcia Smith said Edgewood has become “a pawn” in this country’s divisive anti-abortion battle, exemplifying the fact that visitors from nearby progressive cities They boycott their restaurants and festivals.

He blames powerful local churches that he sees as “more political organizations” than places of religious service.

Filandro Anaya, the municipal official who opposed the regulations, told AFP that “the only thing this ordinance did was divide the community.”

AFP agency