OPINION: Talk of the Town

Lawmakers’ actions reflect poorly on Legislature

From my perspective as a lifelong Democrat and retired trial lawyer, I was surprised and disappointed to learn of the failure of state Sens. Joseph Cervantes and Katy Duhigg to recuse themselves from all legislative actions relating to the recent medical malpractice legislation. Their failure to recuse is obviously unethical and appears to be in violation of the Governmental Conduct Act.

It is my understanding that a significant part of their law firms’ practice consists of representing plaintiffs with medical malpractice claims. Therefore, their failure to recuse has the appearance of corrupt, self-serving behavior and, at the very least, it has a very negative affect on their professionalism and credibility. It also reflects very poorly on the entire Legislature. It makes one wonder how many other instances of this behavior occur every legislative session with no attempt by the Legislature to regulate or discipline its own members.

Nicholas Gentry

Albuquerque

Make lawmakers earn salary

I plan to vote “no” on House Joint Resolution 5, which amends the New Mexico Constitution to pay all our legislators a salary equal to the state's annual median income, which today is almost $68,000.

That's more than many government employees, such as teachers, and is much higher than other western states. Plus, they keep their high per diem payments, even if they have a short commute to Santa Fe, in addition to a pension.

This is a one-way bill. What do we as citizens get out of it? More in-service days by the Legislature? Reduction in the high per-diem payments? Better bills in the Legislature that actually benefit the taxpayers? I don’t see any of that, unfortunately. So what good is it to us, who aren’t in the Legislature but are at its mercy? Not a thing, that I can see. So, please vote “no” on the HJR 5 question. Keep voting “no” until the Legislature earns it.

Gary Hoe

Albuquerque

Protecting the unborn is not the same as protecting the living

In my medical training, I learned that the basis for illness and disease is multifactorial. There are many factors that contribute to the onset, promulgation, recognition and intervention with respect to what makes us sick. The recent failed attempt to regulate firearms in New Mexico comes at a time when the science of vaccines is being disparaged and women’s health care is being criminalized.

A well-vetted panel of vaccination experts at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has been replaced by nonbelievers at the whim of a department secretary who is not afraid of a germ. Apparently, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has never been confronted by someone with AIDS, a deadly disease for which there is no vaccine. The good news is that there are effective vaccines for COVID, measles, whooping cough, polio and other deadly diseases. As misinformation mounts and vaccination rates drop, America is likely to experience viral epidemics in our schools, jails, worksites and places of worship.

The conservative justices of the U.S. Supreme Court have overturned Roe v. Wade, and many women will now find it difficult to obtain a safe medical procedure. Some will have children they don’t want. Some will have a procedure performed by untrained practitioners in unprofessional settings. Women will suffer. Will those who are ”pro-life” stand up for others adversely impacted by this significant change in access to health care?

Protecting the unborn does not necessarily translate into protecting the living. Unlike other civilized nations, the U.S. has relaxed gun rights. New Mexicans had an opportunity to impact the gun violence epidemic with Senate Bill 17. America puts up with a level of mass shootings unheard of in advanced cultures.

Our health care system can't make up for resistance to science nor laws meant for a bygone era.

Dr. Bob Larsen

Santa Fe

We can next lose count 

A stunning piece of legislation — Senate Bill 30, Reporting of Induced Abortions — has been signed into law. With this passage, New Mexico has officially decided to no longer track the number of abortions performed in our state.

This law does not change abortion policy. It only changes whether we count how many abortions we perform. It removes the basic reporting requirement that allows the public to know the scope of what is happening under state law.

Women from all over the country come here to have an abortion performed because many states won’t allow this tragedy to continue. Those states have fought the moral battle and have concluded that abortion is the killing of a baby.

When government stops counting something, it might be because the matter is trivial. Not this time. It is because the totals are inconvenient. If abortion is legal in New Mexico, at least we should own the decision “we” have made. Stand up and defend it openly. But don’t try to pretend that eliminating reporting somehow reduces the moral weight of what is being done. It doesn’t. As intended, it only ensures fewer citizens will see the full picture and know the real count of the lives lost.

We track nearly every serious public health and social issue. We collect data on deaths, crime, overdoses and accidents. Yet on an issue involving the termination of thousands of unborn babies, our Legislature has decided the better course is not to know.

Is this really who we are as a state? So, since babies don’t matter, next up might as well be data from the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department. Currently, the death of a child, usually under terrible circumstances, makes the headlines. We appear to not know what to do. Better to just stop counting them too. 

Dan Domme

Albuquerque

Separate ranching myth from scientific fact

In response to an op-ed by Tom Paterson, president of the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association op-ed (March 8 Sunday Journal) regarding wolf predation and human-wolf encounters: I believe his self-interest is getting in the way of science and facts.

According to the U.S Department of Agriculture, domestic dogs kill more livestock than any other carnivore besides coyotes. Rural people tend to allow their dogs to roam freely and as a result, they form packs. Wolves only account 0.02% of livestock kills, according to Outdoor Life. In addition, there have been only two fatal human attacks by wolves in the past 20 years, one in Alaska and one in Canada.

Children have a greater chance of a rattlesnake bite than a wolf encounter. While ranchers get compensation for livestock losses, it is their responsibility to protect their herds from predation using nonlethal methods since they are the ones who benefit financially. Ranchers also use our public lands to graze their cattle. Cattle are tough on environments but wolves help to restore it, including for elk.

Let’s use science and facts before destroying the American people’s indigenous wildlife.

Chris Neef

New Mexico