By Karen Cross, NRL Political Director
On June 1st, voters in New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District will go to the polls for a special election to fill the vacancy left by pro-abortion Congresswoman Deb Haaland, who was recently appointed Interior Secretary by pro-abortion President Joe Biden.
Early voting begins on May 4th.
The contrast between the Republican and Democrat congressional candidates could not be clearer.
State Senator Mark Moores (R) is solidly pro-life. He supports compassionate proposals to protect unborn children and their mothers. Flipping this seat would mean one fewer vote for Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s radical pro-abortion agenda in the House and bring Republicans one seat closer to retaking control.
In stark contrast, State Representative Melanie Stansbury (D) supports a policy of abortion on demand, which would allow abortion for any reason. She also supports using taxpayer dollars to fund abortions. Stansbury is endorsed by the nation’s largest abortion provider and EMILY’s List, a pro-abortion PAC that only backs Democratic women who support abortion without limits.
National Right to Life is working to educate voters about the radical pro-abortion positions held by Melanie Stansbury. While serving in the New Mexico legislature, Stansbury supported pro-abortion legislation, including a bill to protect abortion in the state through all nine months of pregnancy in the event Roe v. Wade would be overturned by the Supreme Court.
New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District covers most of central New Mexico, including three-fourths of the city of Albuquerque, by far the largest city in New Mexico. While many political pundits view the district as a safe seat for Democrats, anything can happen in an open seat special election.
In 2020, incumbent Democrat Haaland won reelection with 58% of the vote. Unlike the 2020 general election, however, turnout is expected to be low, as is typical of special elections, meaning our pro-life votes will matter that much more!
Melanie Stansbury has the endorsement of Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider. After receiving PPFA’s endorsement, she tweeted, “I am honored to earn the endorsement of (Planned Parenthood)! In Congress, I will always fight for women’s rights and the right to choose.” If elected, Stansbury would stand on the side of the abortion industry, not unborn babies and their mothers.
Melanie Stansbury supports many of the pro-abortion policies the Biden Administration and its allies have been pushing in Congress. This includes legislation such as H.R. 1 (the “For the People Act”). Marketed by Democrats as campaign reform, in truth H.R. 1 would severely impede the exercise of our organization’s rights to lobby, advocate issues and engage in the political process on behalf of right to life issues and strip away rights and privacy of our donors and supporters.
That legislative agenda also includes H.R. 5 (the so-called “Equality Act”), which amends the 1964 Civil Rights Act. H.R. 5 adds language that could be used to make abortions more available, expand taxpayer funding of abortion, and weaken conscience protections for health care providers opposed to participating in abortions.
At the other end of the life spectrum, Stansbury voted in favor of assisted suicide in New Mexico. Her vote drew criticism from pro-life and disability rights groups in the state. When the bill was signed, Jennifer Popik, J.D., director of Medical Ethics for National Right to Life, noted, “This legislation endangers vulnerable populations and opens the door to abuse. This puts a human being in danger of becoming a notation in a cost/benefit analysis.”
On the flip side, National Right to Life-endorsed Mark Moores supports pro-life legislation, including the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would protect unborn children who can feel pain by prohibiting abortion at 20 weeks, a point by which the unborn child is capable of experiencing great pain when being killed by dismemberment or other late abortion methods. He also opposes the use of federal funds for abortion, and taxpayer funding of abortion providers.
National Right to Life looks forward to working with Mark Moores to protect the most vulnerable members of the human family – unborn children, the medically dependent or persons with disabilities, whose lives are threatened by abortion or euthanasia.