ALBUQUERQUE, NM—Today, the New Mexico State Medical Board ruled that Dr. Shelley Sella, a doctor with Southwestern Women’s Options and target of anti-abortion extremists, committed no negligence or wrongdoing in a case where a patient experienced complications during her abortion.
 
The complaint against Dr. Sella was originally filed in 2011 by Operation Rescue (OR) Senior Policy Advisor Cheryl Sullenger, a convicted federal felon who served two years in prison for conspiring to bomb an abortion clinic in 1987. Operation Rescue is a Wichita, Kansas-based anti-abortion organization known for their extreme tactics that often involve harassment and intimidation of doctors and patients.
 
“This is a familiar tactic Operation Rescue has used in other states,” said ACLU-NM Legal Director Laura Schauer Ives. “When an abortion clinic calls 911, Operation Rescue files a complaint with the state medical board in an attempt to bully and harass doctors. It’s a shame that out-of-state extremists feel that they can abuse and politicize our system of medical oversight to satisfy their political agendas.”
 
After an anti-abortion radical assassinated Wichita, Kansas physician Dr. George Tiller in 2009, Operation Rescue sent two interns, Bud and Tara Shaver, as “missionaries” to Albuquerque where two of Dr. Tiller’s colleagues had relocated to continue providing abortion care to their patients. Soon after the Shavers began working with local anti-abortion organization Project Defending Life (PDL), they began coordinating with Operation Rescue to file numerous frivolous complaints against abortion providers with the New Mexico State Medical Board.
 
To date, the medical board has only investigated one complaint filed by OR/PDL, which was cleared by today’s ruling.
 
“This is really about harassment of doctors and abuse of the medical oversight system,” said ACLU-NM Staff Attorney Alexandra Freedman Smith. “Extremists like Operation Rescue and Project Defending Life aren’t concerned about the health and safety of women; their only goal is to ensure that no New Mexican woman can access a safe and legal abortion.”
 
New Mexico has experienced an influx of anti-abortion extremism and legislation in recent years, including bills that would criminalize rape victims for seeking abortions, ban abortion after 20 weeks, force a woman to view or listen to an ultrasound before terminating their pregnancy, enforce waiting periods to have an abortion and force young women to notify their parents before seeking abortion care. PDL reports they sought and received a private audience with Governor Susanna Martinez and recently acted as Rep. Nora Espinoza’s “expert witness” in hearings over the forced view/listen ultrasound bill during the current legislative session.
 
To learn more about Operation Rescue/Project Defending Life’s campaign of harassment against New Mexico doctors, see the Progress Now New Mexico report on OR/PDL methodology, Rhetoric Over Fact: Inside Project Defending Life and Operation Rescue's Exploitation of 911 Calls.
 

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Dear friend of liberty,  I thought I had seen it all from anti-abortion extremists. I was wrong.Late Wednesday, Rep. Cathrynn Brown (R-55) introduced a bill that could criminalize rape survivors who seek an abortion. Under her proposed amendment, the felony crime of "tampering with evidence" would be written to include "procuring or facilitating an abortion...of a fetus that is the result of criminal sexual penetration or incest with the intent to destroy evidence of the crime."   That's right; you can't make this stuff up. A bill that could force a rape survivor to choose between cooperating in the prosecution of her abuser and terminating an unwanted pregnancy that was forced upon her. Tell Rep. Brown that these kinds of extreme anti-abortion laws have no place in New Mexico.   After a strong initial public backlash to her bill, Rep. Brown is already wavering on this ill advised scheme. She claims that she will edit out the most offensive parts of the bill, but this type of legislation doesn't belong in New Mexico in any form.   This bill is only part of a wider effort to intimidate women and make accessing safe, legal abortion practically impossible. This legislative session we have already seen a bill that would force a woman to view a medically unnecessary ultrasound and listen to a description of the fetus before she could terminate her pregnancy, and another that would force a young woman to notify their parents before she could access a safe and legal abortion.   Most New Mexicans agree that we should not punish survivors of sexual assault for the crime that was perpetrated upon them. Rape survivors need care and support, not a felony charge.   We can't let anti-abortion extremists and politicians interfere with private medical decisions that belong between a woman and her doctor, nor can we allow anyone to bully survivors of sexual assault. Send a message to Rep. Brown and ask her to do the right thing and send this bad bill to the trash heap. Sincerely, Peter Simonson, Executive Director

ALBUQUERQUE, NM—Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico announced that Walgreen Co. has given the organization assurance that individual pharmacists’ personal religious beliefs will not prevent customers from filling their birth control prescriptions at any of their pharmacies nationwide. The ACLU of New Mexico, the Southwest Women’s Law Center (SWLC) and Walgreen Co. have been in discussions since a pharmacist at an Albuquerque Walgreens location refused to fill the birth control prescriptions of two women due to his religious beliefs. The ACLU of New Mexico and SWLC believe that this act constitutes sex discrimination and is unlawful under the New Mexico Human Rights Act.

 
Walgreens has assured the ACLU of New Mexico and SWLC that it will take steps to ensure that women receive the appropriate care regardless of the individual beliefs of its employees.
 
“…Walgreens policy is and always has been to provide the highest quality of customer service by filling all prescriptions, including birth control medications, in a prompt and courteous manner…Having said that, we must recognize that there may exist pharmacists who object to filling certain prescriptions based on their religious, moral or ethical beliefs. To balance the needs of our pharmacists and our customers, Walgreens has developed appropriate policies and procedures for our pharmacies to assure that these prescriptions, for example, birth control, are handled as efficiently as other prescriptions without imposing any burden on the customer…”
 
 
The company has also assured the ACLU and the SWLC that Walgreens pharmacy staff has a thorough understanding of corporate policies and procedures related to such matters, having conducted follow-up training with store personnel following the incidents in Albuquerque.
 
The ACLU of New Mexico will continue to confirm that their non-discrimination policy is functioning effectively.
 
“We applaud Walgreen Co. for their good faith efforts to ensure that women are not refused medication because of an individual employee’s religious beliefs,” said ACLU of New Mexico Executive Director Peter Simonson. “Individual pharmacists certainly have a protected right to exercise their religious beliefs, but those beliefs cannot cause a company to discriminate against its customers.”
 
 CONTACT: Micah McCoy, (505) 266-5915 x1003 or [email protected]

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