Daily Lobo 3/1/2021

Page 1

Daily Lobo new mexico

dailylobo.com

The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895

Once you have enjoyed your copy of the Daily Lobo:

it’s yours to keep OR recycle.

Monday, March 1, 2021 | Vo l u m e 1 2 5 | I s s u e 2 4

New Mexico abortion ban repealed Law comes off the books after more than a half-century By Sarah Bodkin @sarahbodkin4 The bill to repeal New Mexico’s 1969 abortion ban (Senate Bill 10) was signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday, Feb. 26. The repeal adds an extra layer of protection for abortion health care in the state in case Roe v. Wade is overturned by the right-leaning Supreme Court. “Anyone who seeks to violate bodily integrity, or to criminalize womanhood, is in the business of dehumanization. New Mexico is not in that busi-

ness — not any more,” Lujan Grisham said in a press release announcing the repeal. Many supporters of the bill, including Lujan Grisham, believe that ensuring protections for abortion rights in New Mexico will save the lives of people seeking abortion care. According to the CDC, 3,110 New Mexicans had abortions in 2018. Republicans who opposed the bill were concerned about the absence of a “conscience clause,” which would explicitly ensure that health care professionals have the right to refuse to perform an abortion.

This right is already protected by the Uniform Health Care Decisions Act. “This bill will not force health care workers to provide abortion care, and claims otherwise are simply not true and set up a false dichotomy between patients and providers,” said Ellie Rushforth, an attorney at the ACLU of New Mexico and an expert witness for SB 10. Rushforth said it’s inappropriate to make decisions for another person, since life experiences and pregnancies are all so unique.

see

Abortion page 3

Cameron Ward / Daily Lobo / @xx_cameo_xx

A mural in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in support of reproductive rights.

UNM students and graduates fight to lower campus sexual assault rate By Lissa Knudsen @lissaknudsen

Liam DeBonis / Daily Lobo / @LiamDeBonis

An emergency phone — one of many on campus and distinguishable by its bright blue beacon — on UNM’s main campus at night.

Inside this Lobo MATA: Jennifer King breaking barriers in the NFL (pg. 2) GLEASON: UNM resource centers collaborate to celebrate Women’s History Month (pg. 2) KNUDSEN: REVIEW: Period: A podcast about the science of menstruation and ‘all the bloody bits’ (pg. 4)

Reports of sexual violence in on-campus housing at the University of New Mexico — including rape, dating violence and stalking — increased dramatically in 2019, according to the 2020 UNM main campus Clery Act report released last November. According to the data, there were 17 reported rapes in on-campus housing out of 23 campus-wide in 2019, marking a 21% increase from the year before. During the same period, reports of dating violence increased from 16 to 30 and stalking cases increased from 36 to 45. Last week, the Daily Lobo sat down with a group of campus sexual assault advocates to talk about the work they’re doing to reduce sexual assault cases on campus. The New Mexico chapter of the Every Voice Coalition, an advocacy group dedicated to fighting sexual assault on college campuses, is served by UNM alum and co-state director Emily

Wilks. Victoria Cooper, a UNM sophomore studying psychology, is the organization’s public relations research chair. The group is working with the New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs, and Wilks said the group “modge-podged a piece of legislation together” to address campus sexual assaults. That legislation, called the School Task Force on Sexual Misconduct (House Bill 142, sponsored by Rep. Liz Thomson, D-Albuquerque), is being considered in this year’s 60-day session of the state Legislature. According to Wilks, the bill combines an “affirmative consent” bill from 2019 (that failed in the Senate 22-16) with an amnesty policy for minor violations, memorandums of understanding aiming for free access to medical or legal assistance and a requirement to establish a task force charged with administering a biennial “campus climate survey” for state universities and colleges. “We know that 89% of schools in the country report zero cases

see Sexual Assault page 3

EVARTS: UNM alum helps connect the New Mexico aerospace industry (pg. 5) GLEASON: New Feminist Research Institute director continues work on gender, sexuality (pg. 6) KLEINHANS: UNM women’s soccer coach scores big with national role (pg. 7)


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.