ALBUQUERQUE, NM: New Mexico Alliance for Life (NMAFL) urges state and federal officials to act as Congress has issued
a second criminal referral for the University of New Mexico (UNM) and Southwestern Women’s Options (SWO) to New Mexico’s Attorney General Hector Balderas for prosecution.
Today’s criminal referral is the second issued this year by the House Select Panel on Infant Lives against both UNM and SWO, and used the results of investigations by NMAFL. The Panel’s referral today accuses the taxpayer-funded university and late-term abortion center of violating federal statute and regulation along with
NM’s Maternal, Fetal and Infant Experimentation Act.“New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas can no longer ignore these serious, multiple violations of law and women’s rights, cited by Congress -he must uphold his duty to hold both Southwestern Women’s Options and the University of New Mexico accountable to the law,” said NMAFL Executive Director Elisa Martinez. “As we have shown in our year-long investigation, women have suffered from this unethical and possible illegal partnership. We are grateful that Congress was able to use our work to hold the University of New Mexico, in collaboration with Southwestern Women’s Options accountable to the taxpayers.”
The patient cited in the Panel’s referral, is Albuquerque resident, Jessica Duran. Duran filed a
lawsuit earlier this month accusing SWO of not providing her a legally valid consent, according to the NM Maternal, Fetal and Infant Experimentation Act, that her daughter would be harvested for research, along with other violations of the law.
“My baby was fully human, and her body was highly valuable for the sum of her parts for UNM researcher’s projects,” said Duran in a press conference held on
December 5, 2016. “At the time of my abortion, I was in a desperate, vulnerable state. I know had they informed me about the research at UNM, I would have snapped that this is a life inside of me, a valuable life and walked right out of the clinic.” Duran said.
“It is absolutely pathetic that the only person in New Mexico that is taking legal action to hold these people accountable is one of their victims,” said Martinez. “Attorney General Balderas must act to protect these women and the countless other victims out there.”
