Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice America Endorses New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham for Reelection
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, August 3, 2022
Contact: [email protected]
Governor Lujan Grisham earns endorsement of nation’s leading reproductive freedom advocacy group
Washington, DC — Today, NARAL Pro-Choice America announced its endorsement of New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham in her bid for reelection. Governor Lujan Grisham has led the state since she was first elected in 2018. Gov. Lujan Grisham’s opponent, Mark Ronchetti, has extreme anti-choice views.
NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju released the following statement:
“Across the country, anti-choice Republican lawmakers are pulling out all the stops to ban abortion outright, including at the federal level. In order to turn the tide and change the dangerous direction our country is going in, we need to keep Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham in office. Mark Ronchetti, her opponent in this race, is an anti-choice extremist who has lied to voters about his goal to ban abortion in the state. Gov. Lujan Grisham has shown time and again she will fight for abortion access and our most fundamental freedoms—and her leadership has never been more critical in this moment.”
NARAL Pro-Choice America Southwest Regional Director Caroline Mello Roberson released the following statement:
“In our post-Roe world, governors play a crucial role in determining the reality of abortion access in a state—and that’s exactly why we need champions like Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham in office. She has steadfastly fought to protect and advance our freedom to decide if, when, and how to start or grow a family. We’re proud to endorse her for reelection, and our more than 34,000 members across New Mexico are ready to mobilize to ensure she is reelected this November.”
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said:
“I am proud to have NARAL Pro-Choice America’s endorsement in such a crucial moment for reproductive rights in America. As Governor, I have fought tirelessly to protect the rights of women to access safe, legal reproductive and abortion care. With states and leaders across the country actively working to restrict access to essential reproductive care, I will ensure New Mexico continues to be a safe haven for access and stand as a brick wall against those who seek to punish women and their families.”
Governor Lujan Grisham has been a bold champion in the fight for reproductive freedom. Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Governor Lujan Grisham issued an executive order to protect abortion providers and those seeking abortion care in New Mexico, and has stated that she will not extradite providers or those who access abortion care in the state. In February 2021, Gov. Lujan Grisham signed SB 10 to repeal a near-total criminal ban on abortion that was enacted before Roe, a law that could have gone into effect if not for her leadership. She has also signed legislation to protect pregnant people from workplace discrimination and created a committee to review and investigate maternal mortality and morbidity in the state.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization—ending the constitutional right to abortion and opening the door for extremist state lawmakers to put total bans on abortion in place. This decision is already having a devastating impact throughout the country as 14 states have begun enforcing extreme and total bans on abortion. New Mexico plays an outsized role in providing abortion access for those seeking out-of-state care as one of only a few states in the Southwest United States that have taken proactive steps to safeguard and expand access to abortion care. The people hurt most by these bans and restrictions are those who already face barriers to accessing abortion care—including women; Black, Indigenous, and other people of color; those working to make ends meet; the LGBTQ+ community; immigrants; young people; those living in rural communities; and people with disabilities.
These endorsements come as NARAL Pro-Choice America is ramping up its work to elect candidates up and down the ballot during a critical moment in the fight for reproductive freedom. NARAL, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and EMILY’s List announced a partnership in May to collectively spend a historic $150 million on the 2022 midterms to elect reproductive freedom champions up and down the ballot across the country. Read more about NARAL’s endorsed candidates here.
###
For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for every body. NARAL is powered by its 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.