Why Not Gold Butte?

Today, a mountain range in Southern New Mexico is making news. And don't worry, it's making news for a good reason.

Earlier this week, President Obama officially designated the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. This means that starting today, about 496,000 acres of desert wilderness just outside Las Cruces will officially be guaranteed forever wild. This region is home to golden eagles, mule deer, Montezuma quails, and a number of rare animal and plant species.

Oh, and the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument is expected to generate about $7.4 million in new economic activity for the Las Cruces area and double the amount of jobs in the region's tourism industry. That's why a large coalition of local business leaders, sporting/hunting enthusiasts, faith leaders, and elected officials support the new monument.

Not too long ago, a similar grassroots campaign emerged for preservation of Gold Butte. Senator Harry Reid (D) & Rep. Steven Horsford (D-North Las Vegas) even introduced legislation in Congress to declare a National Conservation Area for Gold Butte. But with hardened G-O-TEA opposition (even from Nevada's Republicans in Congress!), that legislation went nowhere fast.

And then, Cliven Bundy became an instant national G-O-TEA celebrity...



And now, the Gold Butte area is being overrun by armed madness. And as a result, Mesquite area businesses have been losing business.

Today, Southern New Mexico residents are celebrating the new national monument that will preserve a key stretch of the Southern Rocky Mountains while generating more economic activity for the region. Why can't Southern Nevada have the same? Why can't Gold Butte have the respect it deserves? Because a few armed zealots backed by a handful of billionaire zealots want armed anarchy instead?



Other ecologically sensitive areas of the nation have been fortunate enough to earn federal preservation designation. Why not Gold Butte? Why can't Gold Butte be recognized for the treasure it truly is? If Congress won't act to save Gold Butte from the crazed armed thugs who want to continue their illegal "Range War" there, why can't the President take action to save Gold Butte like he just has for New Mexico's Organ Mountains?

WoW Is DOA in ABQ?

This past January, we commemorated the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and remembered how far we've come since then. Of course, we also noticed the challenges that remain as women’s reproductive rights face more attacks.

In recent weeks, a new line of attack emerged. What made this (even more) surprising is that it emerged in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Anti-choice activists from across the nation descended upon The Duke City to push a citywide referendum on late-term abortion. This was part of their new "all politics is local" strategy... But this first test didn't go so well for them.

Albuquerque voters on Tuesday defeated a measure to ban abortion at 20 weeks, issuing a major blow to antiabortion activists who had hoped to use the city to test a new strategy to restrict the procedure at the municipal level.

As Salon has previously reported, the effort to get the measure on the ballot was led by Bud and Tara Shaver, two self-described Christian missionaries and extreme antiabortion activists who moved from Kansas to New Mexico with the sole intent of shuttering the Southwestern Women’s Options clinic, one of two late-term abortion providers in the area. [...]

“The voters of Albuquerque showed that they care about women’s health and respect the private medical decisions they make,” Physicians for Reproductive Health Board Chair Nancy Stanwood, MD, MPH, said in a statement.

“They saw through this deceptive initiative and defeated a measure that would have banned abortions after 20 weeks, with only the narrowest of exceptions, legislation that would have stripped women of the ability to make the best decision for themselves and their families. … With the defeat of this ballot measure, the voters of Albuquerque affirm that women deserve the best care and deserve privacy and respect.”

OK, so Albuquerque voters rejected a late-term abortion ban yesterday. Why are we talking about it here and now? Perhaps because this has major national implications?

It’s not just about one city though. Albuquerque is home to the only late-term abortion clinics in the state, including Southwestern Women’s Options, one of just a handful of clinics left in the whole country that do very late abortions. (The clinic has become the target of some scary anti-choice harassment and the providers there are featured in the new documentary After Tiller, which you should definitely see.) So a ban there would affect all the folks who travel to the city for abortion care from rural areas elsewhere in the state–and across the US. Micaela Cadena, who is part of the Respect ABQ Women campaign fighting the measure,explained, ”Albuquerque voters are voting for the whole state of New Mexico and also for the rest of the country.” No wonder anti-choice groups have been spending big bucks to get this ban passed."

In recent years, anti-choice G-O-TEA Culture Warriors have been waging the War on Women in Congress and in state legislatures across the nation. And they've succeeded in passing epic hurdles to reproductive health care in a number of states while directing the US House to spend seemingly endless amounts of time on proposed abortion and contraception restrictions. It's forced pro-choice activists to play defense across the nation.

But last night, Albuquerque voters delivered a direct rebuke of this attempt to surreptitiously expand the War on Women into New Mexico. So not only do public opinion pills show a pro-choice majority, but we're finally seeing real election results demonstrating this as well.

So why is Congress still wasting time on attempts to limit abortion and contraception access? Why are the likes of Senator Dean Heller (R-What?) and Rep. Joe Heck (R-Why?) ignoring what's happening in their own backyard? Why is the War on Women continuing despite mounting opposition?

What happened in Albuquerque may very well be a turning point... But it will likely take more public rebukes like this one to end the War on Women once and for all.

The Dream Reaches New Frontiers.

Tomorrow will mark the official 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington. This is the march where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his now famous "I Have a Dream" speech. So of course, we've been talking here and elsewhere about how far we’ve come since then... As well as how far we still need to go to achieve that dream.

State Senator Pat Spearman (D-North Las Vegas) touched on this back in June, as Southern Nevada locals were celebrating the US Supreme Court's rulings on marriage equality. Those marked major achievements in LGBTQ civil rights. Yet even now, much more needs to be done.



In May, the Nevada Legislature passed SJR 13 to undo the state's current constitutional ban on marriage equality. It came after weeks of powerful testimony and nerve-wracking deliberation.





And it's still far from over. SJR 13 must pass the Legislature again in 2015 before facing voters for final approval in 2016. It's a long process to undo a horrible mistake made a long time ago.

This also reflects the current state of LGBTQ civil rights nationally. There have been some major achievements in recent years, but we still have more to do to achieve full equality under the law and in society. While the recent Supreme Court decisions were major steps forward, anti-equality campaigns in Arizona and New Mexico remind us of what still needs to be done.

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But then again, New Mexico is becoming the new state on the front line for marriage equality as four counties are now granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Even as some Republican lawmakers there are throwing a temper tantrum over this, at least one law suit there has already been decided in favor of equality. And the state's Attorney General decided not to defend marriage discrimination.


This week, we're being reminded of the ongoing struggles for civil rights. However, we're also having to notice current and emerging struggles for equality. The dream is far from over. Rather, the dream continues to expand to new frontiers.